Bail granted to Chinnaiah arrested in Dharmasthala case

Mangaluru, Nov 24 (PTI) A court in Belthangady on Monday granted bail to C N Chinnaiah, who has been arrested on charges of perjury in connection with a case which was registered based on his complaint claiming dozens of bodies of women and minors were secretly buried in Dharmasthala in the last two decades.

Last week, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the allegations of multiple rapes, murders and burials in Dharmasthala, submitted a 3,900-page report to the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Belthangady under Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), naming six persons as accused, including Chinnaiah. The section 215 of BNSS outlines the procedure for prosecuting offenses against public justice apart from others.

Chinnaiah, a former sanitation worker, originally claimed that dozens of bodies of women and minors, some bearing marks of sexual assault, were secretly buried between 1995 and 2014 in Dharmasthala. The SIT, however, found major inconsistencies in his statements and evidence.

He was arrested on August 23 for alleged perjury and initially taken in to SIT custody before being sent to judicial custody in Shivamogga. The SIT's report states that claims by Chinnaiah may have been part of a conspiracy and notes the need for further judicial action.

Chinnaiah's bail plea was earlier rejected in September considering the severity of allegations and ongoing investigation.

While granting the bail now, the court has placed conditions on Chinnaiah's release, including restrictions on his movement and communication until the investigation proceeds.

The SIT, formed by the state government, to probe the allegations levelled by Chinnaiah has conducted excavations at multiple locations identified by the complainant in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains were found at two sites.

SIT has recently found more skeletal remains during a search operation in the Banglegudde forest area near the Nethravathi bathing ghat. PTI COR AMP ADB