Dharmasthala case: Complainant Chinnaiah records voluntary statement before magistrate

Mangaluru (Karnataka), Sep 28 (PTI) The voluntary statement of Chinnaiah, the complainant in the Dharmasthala case, has been recorded by the Additional Civil Judge and Judicial First Class Magistrate in Belthangady on Saturday late evening, officials said.

Chinnaiah (45), currently lodged in Shivamogga prison, was brought to court in the morning under police escort.

His statement was recorded under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS)police sources said.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had arrested Chinnaiah earlier on charges of perjury, alleging that he made false claims during court proceedings on July 11.

According to police, in his voluntary statement, Chinnaiah admitted that both the complaint of multiple rapes, murders and burials over a period of two decades in Dharmasthala, and testimony he had earlier provided were false and were made at the behest of certain individuals. The police were unable to divulge the names of the persons due to technical issues.

He further told the court that the skull he had produced on July 11 as evidence was handed to him by Soujanya's uncle Vittala Gowda.

The SIT is continuing its investigation into the case. PTI COR GMS ADB