‘Explosive’ statement: Seer fails to appear before police; sends lawyer instead

Bantwal, Jul 17: Sri Rajashekharananda Swami, the chief pontiff of Vajradehi Mutt seer, who claimed that he has an 'explosive' information about the murder of RSS worker Sharath, failed to appear before the Bantwal town police on Monday.

The seer, however, sent his lawyer Mahesh Kaje to the Bantwal Town Police Station on his behalf. The lawyer handed over a written statement of the seer to Bantwal circle inspector Prakash.

Mahesh told media that the seer could not come personally as he was engaged in rituals pertaining to Chaturmasa and Ashada Masa. "However, we have submitted a written statement of the seer to the investigating officer,' he added.

Regarding the 'explosive information, which the seer claimed to be having, Kaje said what common people fear to say, the seer had the guts to say it openly. The seer's statement had given rise to a lot of questions and what the investigating officer needed has been submitted to him. These matters will come out at an appropriate time, he added.

The Dakshina Kannada police had served a notice to Rajashekharananda Swami after he claimed that he possessed 'explosive information' about Sharath's assailants. The seer had also claimed that he had some strong evidence to prove why and how Sharath Madivala was murdered.

The notice was served under CrPc 160 and police had asked the seer to appear before the investigating officer to share any crucial details about the murder.

Sharath, 31, who ran a laundry shop on BC Road, was brutally hacked by a group of men on the night of July 4 as he left his shop. He was declared dead on July 7 and tensions ran high in Bantwal when several people were injured and a few vehicles were damaged in stone throwing incidents during the funeral procession of Sharath on July 8.