The conspiracy to poison devotees to bring the Chamarajanagar temple to disrepute was planned eight to 10 days in advance, and its execution included roping in priests and temple administrators, said the police.
Immadi Mahadevaswamy, junior seer of Salur Mutt at Malai Mahadeshwara Hills, is alleged to have plotted the event after he was sidelined from the temple affairs after the formation of the trust, revealed K.V. Sharath Chandra, Inspector-General of Police (Southern range) and Dharmendra Kumar Meena, Superintendent of Police.
Mahadeswamy, who deliberately skipped the December 14 event at Sulwadi Kichhugatti Maramma temple, hoped that by poisoning devotees — which ultimately resulted in the death of 15 people — he could regain control over the temple.
The seer executed the plan through his associates, Ambika and her husband Madesha, who were financially supported by him. Madesha is the manager of the temple. “The seer also had an illicit relationship with the woman, who also belonged to the seer’s village,” the IGP disclosed.
Disgraced priest
Eventually, Ambika roped in Doddaiah, a priest at Nagarakallu, for executing the plan of mixing poison in the ‘prasada’. “Doddaiah had been removed from the job at the temple by Chinnappi, a trustee, after he was arrested for possessing ganja in September this year. He wanted to take revenge against Chinnappi and agreed to mix the poison,” Mr. Chandra said.
Madesha allegedly ensured the three cooks — Lokesh, Puttaswamy and Iranna, who cooked the rice ‘baath’ on the instructions of Chinappi — vacated the kitchen to facilitate Doddaiah to mix the poison. When the cooks returned, they immediately got a pungent smell and raised this with Madesha. However, the temple manager allayed their doubts saying it was from the “masala”.
The police said even when the ‘prasada’ was being distributed and devotees flagged the strange smell, Madesha encouraged them to consume it.
Based on call records, the police have found that Mahadevaswamy, Madesha, and Ambika were in constant touch, while Mahadevaswamy was also frequenting Ambika’s house at Marthalli near Sulwadi.
