Maharashtra: Lingayat seer from Karnataka murdered in Nanded

A Lingayat seer from Karnataka was found murdered in his mutt in the Nanded district of Marathwada region of Maharashtra on Sunday.

Another body of one - who is suspected to be a follower of the seer or an accomplice of a suspect - was found in the washroom of a nearby school.

The incident took place in an ashram in Umri in the Nanded district, around 650 km off Mumbai.

Identified as Shivacharya Nirvanarudra Pashupatinath Maharaj, the seer who had settled in the district for over a decade.

"The second victim, Bhagwan Shinde, was missing since morning,' Nanded district's Superintendent of Police Vijaykumar Magar said, adding that his footwear was found near the school and a search was conducted.

"It appears that Shinde and the suspect had a dispute and the later bumped him off, but detailed investigations were in progress," added Magar.

The robbers quickly grabbed Rs 69,000 cash, his laptop and other valuables from his bedroom, all worth approximately Rs 1.50 lakh, besides his car keys.

"Robbery is the key motive behind the murder....there is no communal angle, no other angle in it," Magar told DH.

"We are still looking for the accused who is on the run since he left the murder spot...he has been identified and we will zero on him soon," said Magar.

Asked whether there are more suspects, he said: "As of now it does not appear so....we are still speaking to witness".

Five crack teams have been formed to track down the accused - and the sensational double-murder is being personally investigated by Magar.

On Saturday night, the accused entered the mutt and overpowered the seer, took the cash and the laptop and other valuables.

He took the body out of the seer inside the ashram car's dickey. While he was trying to speed out of the ashram complex, he rammed the gate resulting in a big noise.

The ashram sevadars rushed down towards the gate and sped off in a parked motorbike.

The murder of the seer has come as a shocker - as last month two sadhus of the Varanasi-based Juna Akhada and their driver were lynched to death in Palghar district near Mumbai.

While talking to a TV channel, PWD Minister Ashok Chavan, said that the murder should not be politicised.

He said that the motive of the murder is not clear yet, and that an investigation has been launched in the incident.

The post-mortem report is awaited.