The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged Dharmasthala mass burial case has widened the scope of its inquiry, adding ten fresh charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the whistleblower, Chinnayya. The new charges relate to perjury, forgery and fabrication of evidence.
Police officials said the original charges in the case remain unchanged. Investigations into the recovered human remains, missing persons cases and several Unnatural Death Reports (UDRs) are continuing.
“The newly added sections relate specifically to the skull submitted before the Belthangady court and have been included in the same FIR,” a senior officer told the media.
Chinnayya, a former sanitation worker with the Dharmasthala temple administration, had earlier claimed to have buried 70–80 bodies at multiple locations. He presented a skull in court as evidence, which is now at the centre of the new charges.
The SIT has accused him of perjury and fabrication of evidence, invoking provisions on forgery, false declarations, destruction of evidence and false testimony in capital and serious offences.
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Earlier this week, police arrested Chinnayya, also known as the “mask man,” after an overnight round of questioning. Investigators alleged he had misled them with false information. Out of the 15 sites he identified, skeletal remains of only one male were recovered.
In previous statements, the whistleblower alleged that some of the bodies showed signs of sexual assault, insisting he was not attempting to malign the temple. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara had told the Assembly that if the SIT found his claims to be fabricated, action could follow.
The SIT is now examining whether the skull and related material submitted in court formed part of a deliberate attempt to mislead the investigation into the mass burial allegations.
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