Shivayogi Shivacharya allegedly loved drink and gadgets, and robbed and killed women devotees to keep his passions going. Manjunath L Hanji visits the holy man's town
Shivayogi Shivacharya allegedly loved drink and gadgets, and robbed and killed women devotees to keep his passions going. Manjunath L Hanji visits the holy man's town
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Young, handsome and a man who loved the good life, the seer of a mutt got so deeply into debt that the police say he let the killer instinct take over to keep his lifestyle going.
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Only 26, Shivayogi Shivacharya led a lavish lifestyle as seer of a mutt in Chikmagaluru, and allegedly took to killing women devotees for their money and valuables.
Luxury goods, especially electronic gadgets, were reportedly the swami's weakness, as was drink.
Shivacharya used his charm on two of his followers to get them closer to him before killing them, the police claim. Villagers living near the mutt believe more than five women were done away with.
The police said Shivacharya, who has now applied for bail, and his three accomplices first killed a rich woman called Shivalingamma. They said the four then followed it up with the killing of a gram panchayat president named Chandravati, living apart from her husband and who people believed was having an affair with the swami.
The two murders reportedly got the accused about a lakh of rupees.
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His accomplices. The accused have applied for bail |
The accomplices
The police said Shivacharya sold the gold valuables of the slain women through his accomplices. His driver Latif (24), and his friends Farukh (25) and Asood (24), allegedly helped him in not only killing the women but also disposing of the bodies and the jewellery.
"Luck ran out for the seer when one of his accomplices began using the mobile phone of one of the victims," said Circle Inspector of Tarikere R B Maledavar, the investigating officer in the case. "The police tracked the suspects with the help of the phone's IMEI number, which led to the whole scandal being exposed."
Wine and women
The SSC-pass seer was nominated the Meghalpethe seer by the then Moodigere principal, and received the new name of Shivayogi Shivacharya.
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KILLED AND DUMPED: Chandravati, one of those killed |
He reportedly even purchased a car on a bank loan, but the four-wheeler was seized when he was unable to make repayments on time. He reportedly hit the bottle in a big way.
When maintaining his lifestyle became tough, the police said the seer opened up to the idea of having sexual affairs with his devotees. He was successful, and the villagers did not breathe a word to outsiders, as they feared their village would face censure.
It seems superstition also had a role to play in the killings.The seer was advised by his accomplices to kill his devotees to gain 'inner strength.' The police said it was Latif who suggested the killing of devotees.
Faith betrayed
Shivalingamma (50) would regularly visit the mutt to provide flowers. She was rich and devoted to the swamiji. One day, all the accused allegedly gathered at the mutt and killed her.
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The spot where her decomposed body was found |
They took the body to Charmudi Ghat and threw it into a valley, which was deep enough to make it extremely difficult for anyone to find the remains. The accused reportedly grew richer by Rs 30,000 after the murder.
Emboldened now, they allegedly planned to kill another woman, this time the president of the gram panchayat of Jinaga village. Called Chandravati, the good-looking woman was always visiting the mutt and lived separately from her husband. People said she was having an affair with the swamiji.
Shivacharya initially is believed to have refused to kill Chandravati, but the police said Latif blackmailed the seer into it by threatening to make the first murder public.
Chandravati's murder reportedly got the accused Rs 60,000 worth of ornaments and a cell phone.
Cell track
Within moments of the murder, the accused are said to have destroyed the SIM card in the cell phone of the victim, but after some days they had begun using the mobile handset. This gave the police an opportunity to crack the case by tracing the handset to the accused.
But for Latif, who is absconding, all the accused are behind bars. The seer and his arrested accomplices are trying for bail from the high court.
"It is a very sad case; if the crimes had continued, we would have had another series of killings as in the case of Mohan Kumar, who is accused of befriending and killing some 20 women for their valuables," said investigating officer Maledavar. "We steadily investigated the case and trapped the accused."
He added that there may be more victims but the police could not be sure.
"We have no proof. From our investigations, two murders have been confirmed," he said. "The case is in court and the guilty will be punished. It shows how lust for a life of luxury on the part of a few can result in the tragic loss of life for others."
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