Pontiff case: CID questions RSS leader

Senior RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakhar Bhat on Monday appeared before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials, in connection with the suicide of Shyamprasad Shastry, brother of Diwakar Shastry whose wife has lodged a rape complaint against Raghaveshwara Bharati, the pontiff of Ramachandrapur Mutt.

The CID officials had issued a notice to Prabhakar Bhat, asking him to appear before the investigating officer, in connection with the alleged abetment to suicide. Shyamprasad had shot himself using his licensed single bore breech loading (SBBL) gun at his house in Kedila near Puttur, after Diwakar’s wife accused the pontiff of raping her. Shyamprasad’s wife had lodged a complaint that a few followers of the pontiff had threatened her husband.

In this connection, the CID police had analysed call record details and found that Shastry and Prabhakhar Bhat had several conversations. The CID officials questioned Bhat to ascertain whether he had any role in the suicide. Sources said that Bhat denied any role in the suicide, saying that he had been a good friend of Shastry for a long time and that they chatted over phone regularly.