A seer of the Lingayat sect was found dead in his Ashram in Kanchugal Bandemath in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district .
The 45-year-old Basavalinga Swamiji was found hanging from a room’s window grill of the puja house at the Math’s premises.
Police rushed to the spot after getting information about the incident, and took possession of the body and sent it for autopsy.
Swami was the chief seer of the Math in Kempupura of Magadi taluk, which has a history of more than 400 years, for 25 years. In a two-page alleged suicide note, reportedly recovered from the Math, the seer alleged that he was being harassed by “some people who wanted to remove him from his position”.
According to police, the seer allegedly took his life over “blackmail”. In his purported death note, the seer is said to have accused some people of “harassing and blackmailing” him by assassinating his character and has even named them.
Math’s staff became suspicious after the puja house’s door was shut till 6 am which was unusual as the seer used to be awake by 4 in the morning for puja and kept the doors open. They even knocked on the door and made phone calls but he didn’t respond, sources said, PTI reported.
A case of abetment to suicide has been registered and an investigation is underway, said police.
