A 62-year-old seer of Chilume Mutt at Solur village of Magadi taluk in Ramanagaram district was found dead in the mutt on Monday morning. The deceased, Basavalinga Swamy, hailed from Doddaballpura taluk, and had been staying in the mutt since 1982.
The incident came to light around 7.30 a.m. when the staff of the mutt came for work. He found the seer dead and alerted the police.
Preliminary investigation revealed that it could be a case of suicide.
“However, we have taken up a case of suspicious death based on the complaint filed by the staff. Though the seer has not left any death note, he has written in his diary about his financial transactions. As per the statement of the staff, the incident has taken place after the seer performed puja early around 5 a.m. The staff has also mentioned that the seer had some health problems and appeared upset over the last two weeks. We are awaiting the post mortem report for further action," the police said.
Those in distress or those having suicidal tendencies can call Arogya Sahayavani Ph.: 104 for help
