Chinnayya took SIT for a ride, showed wrong spots, finds probe

Bengaluru 

Chinnayya, accused in the Dharmasthala mass burial case, misled the Special Investigation Team (SIT) by showing incorrect burial spots. The probe has now confirmed that he deliberately pointed out wrong locations, though the reason behind this remains unclear.

A highly placed source in the Home Ministry told blrpost.com, “from day one of the spot identification process, he started deceiving the investigation team. He deliberately misled them and showed false locations. This is why the exhumation did not yield the expected results. The SIT uncovered this during the course of the investigation.”

Chinnayya, who filed a complaint at Dharmasthala police station on July 3 alleging he was forced to bury bodies illegally, expressed shock when skeletal remains were found at the sixth spot. As soon as the remains were discovered, he said, “this was not buried by me.” This reaction suggested he was himself surprised to see remains at that location. At another spot, identified as 11A, skeletal remains were found on the surface — a site he had not revealed.

The source further suggested it was possible that someone may have contacted Chinnayya before the operation and instructed him to mislead investigators, though the SIT has not yet found evidence to confirm this. Chinnayya also misled Soujanya activists, proving himself to be a fraud. “He took everyone for a ride, not just the SIT. He single-handedly caused significant damage to the case. But the SIT is working day and night to bring out the truth, conducting the investigation very fairly,” the source added.

Chinnayya was arrested on charges of perjury and forgery on August 23 and interrogated for several days before being sent to judicial custody. The SIT has collected substantial information from him. Investigators also questioned Soujanya activists, including Girish Mattannavar, Vittal Gowda, and others. Two mahajars were conducted at Bangle Gudde, the site where Vittal Gowda had brought a skull. During these inspections, seven skeletal remains were found. Later, the SIT carried out a forest search and recovered several more remains, including skulls, along with some identity cards.