Forty-five-year-old Chinnaiah appeared for the second time before the judicial magistrate in Belthangady on Tuesday to record his voluntary statement, in connection with his complaint of the mass burial of bodies in Dharmasthala.

Chinnaiah, who is lodged in the prison in Shivamogga, was brought in with a police escort and produced before the Additional Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate of First Class (JMFC) around 3 p.m. The statement, as per Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagaarik Suraksha Sanhita, was recorded in-camera privately. He was taken out of the court and moved to Shivamogga around 6.30 p.m.

After registration of his complaint in the Dharmathala police station on July 4, Chinnaiah appeared before the magistrate on July 11 to record his voluntary statement to reiterate, on oath, the facts mentioned in his complaint. He also produced a skull before the magistrate by stating that it belonged to one of the 100 women buried in Dharmasthala during the period between 2003 and 2014.

The Special Investigation Team, which is probing the case, found that the skull produced by Chinnaiah was not of a woman, but a 32-year-old man. The SIT also found records to show the presence of Chinniah in Dharmasthala over the last two years, which contradicted his statement that he was forced to leave Dharmasthala in 2014 and had now returned to file a complaint out of guilt.

During his inquiry, following his arrest for perjury, Chinnaiah told SIT he got the skull from 2012 rape and murder victim Soujanya’s uncle, Vittala Gowda and his brother, and he produced the same before the Magistrate. He told the SIT that he had given a false complaint under pressure and had also narrated false facts on oath before a magistrate earlier. On the request by Chinnaiah, the SIT filed an application a fortnight ago seeking the date of the Magistrate for recording another statement of Chinnaiah.