The man who allegedly allegedly rapes and secrets in the city of the Dharmasthala temple arrested

Police in India arrested a man who recently allegedly alleged that he had been forced to bury hundreds of bodies of raped women before being murdered.

His surprising claims had launched the small religious town of Dharmasthala in the southern state of Karnataka in turmoil.

Hosting the secular temple at Manjunatha Swamy – an embodiment of Shiva from the Holy Trinity Hindu – the city attracts thousands of pilgrims daily and is at the heart of the fabric of the life of the local population.

A political row of the State led the government to create a special investigation team (SIT) to verify the allegations of man.

An official of the sit who did not want to be appointed told the BBC on Saturday morning that the man “had been arrested for perjury”.

In early July, the average man had filed a complaint for the police and appeared before a magistrate to record his declaration. Its identity has been retained and, so far, it has appeared in the audience dressed entirely in black, including a hood and a facial mask.

In the police complaint that the BBC has seen, the man said he had worked as a temple cleaner from 1995 to 2014 – and allegedly alleged that he had been forced to bury the bodies of hundreds of girls and young women raped and murdered.

He told five alleged incidents where he gave details and said there were many. Some of the victims, according to humans, were minors.

He said that he has been hiding since 2014 and had returned and had spoken to silence his throbbing conscience.

The cleaner did not name anyone, but blamed “the administration of the temple and its staff” – allegations that the chief of the temple rejected as “false and baseless”.

When he was taken to the magistrate, the man continued to produce a human skull of his bag as proof. He said he belonged to a body he had buried and he had recovered it recently on the spot.

“The skull and the skeletal leftovers he produced are not brought to any place where he claimed to have buried the bodies,” said the SIT manager.

The arrest on Saturday is a major turning point in a saga that sparked a storm of fire in the state and outside.

Allegations have received intense media coverage. After the concerns were raised by the State Women’s Commission, the government has launched a major criminal investigation and set up the SIT.

In recent weeks, the team has excavated in locations in Dharmasthala and the surrounding area to verify human claims. He had initially identified 13 places – some of them in difficult to access areas covered with dense foliage and were infested with poisonous snakes.

Sit sources have confirmed to the BBC that human remains, including a skull and nearly 100 bone fragments, were found in two of the spots and were sent for medico-legal tests. It is not clear to whom they belong.

The allegations also highlighted the influential Heggade family – the hereditary administrators of the Temple.

In a statement to the BBC, the chief administrator Veerendra Heggade, a deputy from the Upper Chamber of the Indian Parliament who received the second highest civil prize in the Padma Vibhushan country in 2015, praised the SIT investigation.

The temple “really appreciates the government for having named the SIT to investigate the allegedly unnatural deaths that occurred in Dharmasthala and the surrounding area,” he wrote.

“We are already extending full support for the investigation. We have fully confidence in our judicial agency and in investigation and in constitution of India,” he added.

In an interview with the Indian news agency PTI later, he described the claims of the former “impossible” cleaner and said that “once and for all, the truth should come out”.

The allegations also led to a huge political row – the question was discussed during the session which has just ended from the State Assembly, members of the BJP opposition calling it a “defamation campaign” against a Hindu religious site which has millions of faithful.

The Minister of the Interior, G Parameshwara, of the Party of the Congress in power of the State, said that the government had no intention of protecting someone or to slander someone.

“Shouldn’t the truth come out?” He asked. “If nothing is found, Dharmasthala’s stature will only strengthen. If something emerges, justice will be done,” he added.