Basavalinga Swami became chief seer of the 400-year-old mutt in 1997.
Bengaluru:
Basavalinga Swami, a 45-year-old seer of the Lingayat sect, was on Monday found hanging from a room’s window grille at Kanchugal Bande Mutt, which he headed, in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district, police said.
His last few calls are now being traced, police said, as he’s left a two-page suicide note about being harassed by “some people who wanted to remove him from his position”.
Basavalinga Swami was the chief seer of the mutt for 25 years. A case of unnatural death has been registered at Kudur police station.
Police at the mutt in Kempapura village, Ramnagara district, Karnataka
He was found hanging around 6 am by some disciples, said a report in The Times of India. It quoted police sources as saying that some people are suspected to have blackmailed the seer over some issues.
Ramesh, the complainant who is a teacher at the Bande Mutt school, told the police that he met the seer at 5 pm Sunday before leaving for home. He received a call from a mutt employee around 6.10am that the seer was not opening his room and not taking calls. Ramesh went to the rear of the room and found the seer hanging, said the report.
Preparations were on for his burial on the mutt premises.