Man arrested for perjury in Dharmasthala case to be released on Thursday

Mangaluru, Dec 17 (PTI) C N Chinnaiah, who was arrested on charges of perjury in connection with a case registered on his complaint alleging dozens of bodies of women and minors were secretly buried in Dharmasthala over the past two decades, will be released from Shivamogga prison on December 18, officials said on Wednesday.

Chinnaiah will be released from the prison on Thursday morning during the office hours, according to senior advocates in the Belthangady JMFC (Judicial Magistrate of First Class) court.

The sources said the release order has already been dispatched to the Shivamogga prison on Wednesday following his wife producing surety in the form of bonds through his advocate to the court.

But his release will be officially formalised only during the working hours on Thursday, they said.

On November 24, Chinnaiah was granted bail by the court in Belthangady.

Last month, 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 JFCM Court in Belthangady , naming six persons as accused, including Chinnaiah.

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. PTI COR AMP SA