C.N. Chinnaiah, the complainant in the Dharmasthala mass burials case, who was later arrested for perjury, was released from the Shivamogga Central Prison on Thursday.
The Principal District and Sessions Court, Dakshina Kannada, on November 24, granted bail to Chinnaiah. On Wednesday, Chinnaiah’s wife Mallika appeared before Senior Civil Judge and JMFC, Belthangady, to comply with the stipulation of execution of personal bail bond of ₹1 lakh and also produced two sureties, which were among the conditions for the release. Mallika produced the order of the Belthangady court before the Shivamogga Central Prison authorities on Wednesday evening.
The Shivamogga prison authorities released Chinnaiah on Thursday morning. Chinnaiah’s counsel was present at the prison at the time of his release.
Facing threat
Chinnaiah appeared before the Dharmasthala police on Thursday evening and filed a complaint that he was facing a threat from activists Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, Girish Mattennavar, T. Jayanth, Vittala Gowda, and YouTuber M.D. Sameer. He has sought protection from the five persons and their supporters.
In the complaint, Chinnaiah accused the five persons of forcing him to file a false complaint of mass burials in Dharmasthala. Following his release from the Shivamogga prison, he was staying in a house within the jurisdiction of the Belthangady court, as stated in the bail order. He and his wife were facing threat to their life from the five activists and their supporters, he said.
The five activists should be held responsible if anything untoward happened to him and his wife, Chinnaiah has stated.
The Dharmasthala police has registered his complaint as a petition.
Published – December 18, 2025 11:04 pm IST
