Karnataka temple poisoning: Two pontiffs questioned, death toll rises to 15

Police on Tuesday also questioned the senior and junior pontiffs of Saluru Mutt which has a long association with the temple. While senior pontiff Immadi Guruswamy presided over the tragic event, his junior colleague Immadi Mahadevaswamy is the president of the temple association.

With the death of 50-year-old Dundamma in Mysuru’s Cauvery Hospital on Tuesday, the toll in the temple prasad poisoning case in Karnataka has gone up to 15, district deputy health officer Basvaraj said.

More than 100 devotees are battling for their lives after they consumed the prasad. They are admitted in several hospitals in Chamarajanagar and Mysuru districts. Six people are on ventilators and said to be in serious condition. (PTI)

Police on Tuesday also questioned the senior and junior pontiffs of Saluru Mutt which has a long association with the temple. While senior pontiff Immadi Guruswamy presided over the tragic event, his junior colleague Immadi Mahadevaswamy is the president of the temple association.

More than 100 devotees are battling for their lives after they consumed the prasad. They are admitted in several hospitals in Chamarajanagar and Mysuru districts. Six people are on ventilators and said to be in serious condition.

Police said that till now, nine people, including several members of the temple trust, have been taken into custody.

The tragic incident took place on December 14 at Kichchugutti Maramma temple at Sulawadi village of Hanur taluk in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district. The devotees were taking part in a gopuram installation ceremony.

Lab tests had indicated the presence of monocrotophos, a commonly-used pesticide, in the prasad.

Amid mounting anger among locals at what is seen as a ‘deliberate’ incident, possibly due to differences of opinion on revenue sharing of the temple, lawyers in Chamarajanagar have decided not to represent any of the accused according to district lawyers’ association president Indushekar.

There have also been demands that the government’s temple endowment department take over the temple affairs, even as the department ordered all temples in the state to take prior permission before serving prasad to prevent recurrence of any such incident.