Belthangady: Dharmasthala case complainant sent to 14-day judicial custody

Belthangady: Dharmasthala case complainant sent to 14-day judicial custody

Mangalore Today News Network

Belthangady, Sep 7, 2025: A court in Belthangady on Saturday remanded 45-year-old Chinnaiah, the complainant in the Dharmasthala case, to 14 days’ judicial custody. He was later shifted to the Shivamogga prison.

Chinnaiah, a former sanitation worker, was produced before Additional Civil Judge and JMFC H. Vijayendra after his SIT custody ended. The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the case, is investigating skeletal remains that Chinnaiah had produced before a magistrate.

On Saturday, the SIT questioned Vittal Gowda, uncle of Soujanya, who was raped and murdered near Dharmasthala in October 2012, and took him to Banglagudde for mazahar before bringing him back to Belthangady.

The SIT has searched the houses of activist Mahesh Shetty Timarody and his brother Mohan Shetty, where Chinnaiah had stayed before his arrest. Activist T. Jayanth was also questioned, and his Bengaluru residence searched, as Chinnaiah had allegedly stayed there with the remains before moving to New Delhi and later filing the police complaint in Dharmasthala.

Investigators also searched two service apartments in Bengaluru linked to Chinnaiah. In addition, YouTuber Abhishek was questioned, while a notice was issued to another YouTuber, Abdul Munaf of Kozhikode, for allegedly filming and posting online the exhumation of skeletal remains.