If you've been following the news out of Karnataka, the Dharmasthala "mass burial" case has been an absolute rollercoaster. It started with shocking allegations of mass rapes and murders, a mysterious masked whistleblower, and a town's reputation on the line. But in a twist you’d expect from a crime thriller, the entire narrative just got flipped on its head. The very man who blew the whistle has now been arrested for lying under oath.
Key Highlights
- ✓ Complainant CN Chinnayya, once a protected witness, arrested for perjury.
- ✓ A skull he claimed belonged to a female victim was forensically proven to be male.
- ✓ Another woman, Sujata Bhat, retracted her story about a missing daughter, claiming it was fabricated.
- ✓ The case has ignited a political firestorm between the BJP and Congress in Karnataka.
- ✓ The Special Investigation Team (SIT) uncovered major inconsistencies in witness statements.
The Shocking Arrest of the 'Masked Man'
Let's rewind a bit. The whole controversy kicked off in July when a man, initially known only as the 'masked man' to protect his identity, walked into a police station with a skull. This man, we now know, is CN Chinnayya, a 50-year-old former sanitation worker. His story was horrifying: he claimed that between 1995 and 2014, he was forced by 'powerful people' to bury over 100 bodies in Dharmasthala, including young women who were sexually assaulted.
Given the gravity of these claims, he was granted protection under the Witness Protection Scheme. On July 11, he even gave a voluntary statement on oath before a magistrate in Belthangady, presenting a skull and a few bones as evidence. He claimed they belonged to a woman who was a victim of sexual assault. This set off a massive investigation and a political firestorm. The state government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Director General of Police Pronab Mohanty, to get to the bottom of it.
But here's where the story takes its jaw-dropping turn. After a prolonged enquiry on Friday, August 23, 2025, the SIT arrested Chinnayya. The reason? The forensic report on the skull and bones came back, and it proved his central claim was a lie. The skeletal remains were not from a female victim; they belonged to a male. His witness protection was immediately withdrawn, and he was booked for perjury—lying under oath. Visuals showed him being taken for a medical check-up before his court appearance, his identity as the accuser now transformed into the accused.
The SIT Investigation Digs for Truth
The SIT didn't just take his word for it from the start. They launched a massive, month-long investigation. The team excavated 17 different sites in the Banglagudde area of Dharmasthala, near Bahubali Gudda, where Chinnayya claimed he had buried bodies. They even used ground-penetrating radar at one site where he alleged more bodies were located. The findings were scant. They found partial skeletal remains of a male at one site and the remains of another male, suspected of suicide, above ground near another.
The investigation wasn't just about digging. The SIT questioned other workers who had been with Chinnayya between 1995 and 2014. They also brought in healthcare personnel for questioning, including Dr. Mahabalesh Shetty, the Head of Forensic Science at K.S. Hegde Medical College. Dr. Shetty had performed autopsies on around 70 decomposed bodies during that period, which were then buried in the presence of police. As the SIT pieced together the evidence, they found glaring inconsistencies in Chinnayya’s statements, ultimately leading to his arrest.
The Bizarre Saga of Sujata Bhat
Just when you think this case couldn't get any stranger, it does. Parallel to Chinnayya's claims, another story emerged that seemed to support the idea of foul play in Dharmasthala. A woman named Sujata Bhat lodged a police complaint on July 15, claiming her daughter, an MBBS student named Ananya Bhat, had gone missing in the area back in 2003. It was a heartbreaking story that added fuel to the fire.
But then, in another shocking U-turn, Sujata Bhat completely backtracked. She told a local YouTube channel that the story was a fabrication. Her exact words were, "It is not true. There was never any daughter named Ananya Bhat." She even admitted that the photograph she had shared as proof of her "daughter's" existence was "completely fake." It turns out, the motive wasn't what it seemed. She alleged that two well-known activists, Girish Mattannavar and T Jayanti, had pressured her to make up the story.
Why would she do that? According to her, it was all tied to a property dispute. Her grandfather reportedly owned property that was allegedly held by the Dharmasthala temple authorities, and she felt her signature was improperly bypassed. To add one more layer of confusion, after making this confession, she did another U-turn, claiming she was under duress to make the retraction statement. It’s a tangled web of claims and counter-claims that has left everyone scratching their heads.
A Political Firestorm Ignites
As you can imagine, the political arena exploded over this case. The BJP and the ruling Congress party in Karnataka have been trading blows, each accusing the other of exploiting the situation for political gain. The BJP has accused the Congress of trying to defame the holy temple town and allowing what they call "propaganda" and "drama" to continue unchecked.
BJP MLA Bharath Shetty didn't mince words, alleging that both Chinnayya and Bhat were just "players at the front following someone else's instructions." He claimed the real masterminds controlling them needed to be exposed and suggested there was "heavy funding" behind the push to spread these false claims. He even questioned the timing of the SIT's formation, noting it happened right after local police sought a narco-analysis test for the complainant.
Congress Hits Back, Temple Weighs In
The Congress government, however, has pushed back hard. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar defended the SIT probe, pointing out that even the "Dharmasthala family themselves met the Chief Minister and said that we are doing a good job." He criticized the BJP for being "fence-sitters" who initially welcomed the probe but are now politicizing it. "The investigation is on, and we will act against whoever is wrong. We are not for or against anyone, we just urge that politics shouldn't be done over religion," Shivakumar stated.
Meanwhile, the man at the center of the temple town, Veerendra Heggade, the Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy Temple, has also spoken out. He alleged that this is part of an "organised campaign" that has been targeting Dharmasthala and its trust for over 14 years. "Irked by the good work being done by us, some elements carry out false campaigns but we are unperturbed," he said, suggesting this is just the latest chapter in a long-running effort to tarnish the temple's image.
Conclusion
The bottom line is, a case that began with some of the most serious allegations imaginable has unraveled into a complex story of deceit, political maneuvering, and bizarre side-plots. The whistleblower is now the one in trouble, his key evidence has been debunked, and a related story of a missing girl has been admitted as a fabrication. What started as a search for justice for potential victims has now become an investigation into who was lying and why. The Dharmasthala case is far from over, but its direction has changed in a way that no one saw coming.
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