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2nd note found in Lingayat seer’s suicide case: Police
Sri Basavalingeshwara Swami, the 45-year-old head pontiff of the Kunchagal Bande Mutt in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district, was found dead in a room at the monastery on Monday. Police recovered a three-page purported suicide note and registered a case of unnatural death at the Kudur police station.
Ramanagaram police probing the alleged suicide of a Lingayat seer have recovered another suicide note on Thursday.
Sri Basavalingeshwara Swami, the 45-year-old head pontiff of the Kunchagal Bande Mutt in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district, was found dead in a room at the monastery on Monday. Police recovered a three-page purported suicide note and registered a case of unnatural death at the Kudur police station.
Ramanagaram Superintendent of Police K Santhosh Babu told HT that both suicide notes left behind by the seer were three pages long.
“One note was addressed to police while another was addressed to other pontiffs and devotees. The mutt staff who saw the death note had allegedly hidden one of the notes, which we have recovered now,” the officer said.
He added there were allegations that the death note had six pages, and only three pages were recovered.
While probing this aspect, police recovered the notes from the devotes. The SP didn’t divulge the details of the death note that has been recovered.
Another officer in the district police, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the death notes have some names, which the police are probing.
He added that the episode has led to a suspicion that close aides of the pontiff, who were in mutt, were also involved in the case.
The officer also pointed out that on Sunday, two local political leaders met the pontiff and held a meeting with the pontiff. Police are trying to identify these visitors.
Police on Wednesday said it recovered four video clips involving a prominent seer found dead in his monastery three days ago and detained three people for questioning, hinting that the 45-year-old man may have been blackmailed before his death.
“We have recovered four video clips and our teams are investigating them for a possible honey trap,” Ramanagara superintendent of police (SP) K Santosh Babu told HT. “Once we identify people involved with these videos, we will be able to ascertain the reason for the suicide.”One of the videos surfaced on social media.
The development came a day after the police said that the purported suicide note did not blame anyone for “harassment”, “threat” or “blackmail” as alleged by some devotees of the pontiff and officials of the mutt.
The SP said on Wednesday that two mobile phones used by the seer were sent to the forensic sciences laboratory (FSL) to get more details. “We are probing the suicide from all angles, including the honey trap.”
A senior police officer said on condition of anonymity that the videos, which were uploaded on social media, purportedly showed the pontiff with a woman in a video call. The officer added that the woman, believed to be a resident of Bengaluru, was in contact with the seer over video calls for six months.
“The woman recorded their private videos during these calls, which were later used to blackmail him,” the officer said.
Police detained three people in connection with the case so far, and their questioning was underway, the officer said, refusing to divulge details about their identity.
“It remains unclear what demands were made by the blackmailers,” the officer said. “We have to probe further. As of now, we have these videos and suspect the seer was honey trapped and blackmailed using these videos, which forced him to end his life.”
HT couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of the purported videos.
On Monday morning, the staff of the 400-year-old mutt found Basavalingeshwara Swami dead in the room. “After the seer did not open the door and did not respond to repeated phone calls, a staff member broke open the door and found him dead,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity.
