MANGALURU: C N Chinnaiah, who was recently released on bail from prison after being arrested on charges of perjury in the Dharmasthala case, has filed a police complaint against five people claiming threats to his life and that of his family, police said on Saturday.
Chinnaiah has named activists Mahesh Shetty Thimarody, Girish Mattennavar, T Jayanth, Vittala Gowda, and YouTuber Samir MD -- who had led the campaign demanding justice for a 17-year-old pre-university girl student who was allegedly raped and murdered on October 9, 2012, near Dharmasthala -- in his complaint, police added.
He claimed that those named in the complaint could harm him and his wife due to his retracted statements in connection with allegations of multiple cases of rape, murder and burials in Dharmasthala, police said.
They are accused of allegedly pressurising Chinnaiah to give a false complaint in the Dharmasthala case.
Chinnaiah, who was released from Shivamogga district jail on December 18 after bail, approached the Dharmasthala police station the same evening, accompanied by his wife and sister.
He has urged authorities to provide protection and prevent harassment, holding them responsible for any untoward incident.
Belthangady police have registered the complaint.
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Superintendent of Police Arun K said further legal procedures will be followed regarding the complaint.
Last month, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the allegations of multiple rapes, murders and burials in Dharmasthala, submitted a 3,900-page report to the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Belthangady under Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), naming six persons as accused, including Chinnaiah.
This section outlines the procedure for prosecuting offences against public justice apart from others.
Chinnaiah, a former sanitation worker, originally claimed that dozens of bodies of women and minors, some bearing marks of sexual assault, were secretly buried between 1995 and 2014 in Dharmasthala.
The SIT, however, found major inconsistencies in his statements and evidence.