24 days after court granted bail, Dharmasthala case accused Chinnaiah walks out of jail on bail

SHIVAMOGGA: Chinnaiah, the main accused in the alleged mass burial case at Dharmasthala, was released from Shivamogga Central Prison on Wednesday evening. He had been shifted to Shivamogga prison on September 9 from Beltangady on the orders of the Beltangady JMFC Court.

Chinnaiah was granted bail on November 24 with 12 conditions, including a Rs 1 lakh bond and two local sureties. However, he couldn’t secure his release as no one came forward to stand surety despite 24 days passing.

Chinnaiah’s wife Mallika, sister Ratna and lawyers arrived at the Shivamogga Central Prison on Wednesday in an Innova car. As they entered the prison, Chinnaiah’s wife covered her head with a saree, and they rushed through the release process.

After completing the formalities, they took Chinnaiah away. The release process took over an hour at Shivamogga prison. Chinnaiah was held in the Cauvery barracks of the prison.

He was shifted to Shivamogga Central Prison on September 6 considering security aspects related to the Dharmasthala case. He was being held there pending trial. After fulfilling the bail conditions, he was finally released.

Chinnaiah had been in prison since his arrest in connection with the Dharmasthala case. He had admitted to spreading false information about Dharmasthala during questioning by the SIT following which he was arrested.