SIT probes Dharmasthala case as complainant's credibility questioned

A special investigation team probing allegations of multiple murders, rapes and secret burials around the temple town of Dharmasthala escorted the complainant to Bengaluru over the weekend and seized documents, digital records and other materials that investigators say are crucial to the case. The complainant, a sanitation worker identified as CN Chinnaiah, who first lodged the complaint in July, remains in SIT custody on perjury and related charges after forensic tests questioned the authenticity of remains he produced in court.

SIT officers brought Chinnaiah to Bengaluru from Belthangady for mahazar spot inspections at several locations linked to his claims, officials said. Investigators seized bank and property documents, communication records and digital files, and examined the places Chinnaiah said he had visited, including a service apartment in Vidyaranyapura and a residence in Mallasandra tied to T Jayanth, an associate of activist Mahesh Shetty Thimmarodi. The human skull Chinnaiah had earlier presented to the SIT in Belthangady was reportedly handled again during the Bengaluru operation, sources said.

The probe has produced conflicting findings. Chinnaiah alleged in...