Famously called “Ernakulam swami”, the 25-year-old youth finally fired a couple of shots while grappling with the cops but only injured his palm in the process.

The dramatic events began early morning when the swami rang up a local TV channel reporter and said he was ending his life as his image was being tarnished by the media. A police team which rushed to his house brought him to the police station with a semi-automatic pistol in his possession. Despite their strong persuasion, the swami refused to part with his gun and held it to his head.

It was when the cops tried to snatch the gun from his hands in a clumsy manner that he fired two shots into the air. An inquiry has been ordered into the police mismanagement of the whole incident. 

The swami’s exploits had come under the scanner following the recent arrest of godman Amrita Chaitanya alias Santosh Madhavan on various charges including rape. As the cops were looking into the activities of other similar godmen it was reported that Bhadrananda was using a beacon lamp on his car while travelling like a VVIP. However, Bhadrananda was not worried about the charge and instead gloated about his connections with the media. 

He claimed that he was close to Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Kerala PCC chief Ramesh Chennithala and Opposition leader Oommen Chandy.

He had forecast events in the lives of these political leaders just as he had predicted the tsunami a year before it happened. However, when some newspapers began to write more about his meteoric rise and his source of funds, the swami got irritated and barged into the office of a newspaper the other day. 

Police said two cases — attempt to commit murder and attempt to commit suicide —  were filed against Bhadrananda on Saturday.