Former administrative officer of Murugha Mutt held

Police nabbed former administrative officer of the Murugha Mutt and former MLA SK Basavarajan in connection with the theft case of photos featuring Shivamurthy Murugha Sharana, who is in judicial custody in a sexual abuse case, from the mutt premises.

Police had nabbed two persons - former gram panchayat member Mohan Murthy and diploma college lecturer Shivanandaswamy in connection with the case earlier. During the interrogation they stated that Basavarajan instigated them to remove the 47 photos featuring the seer.

Police are on the hunt for Basavarajan's wife and former zilla panchayat president Soubhagya Basavarajan.

Police registered a case on October 6 that 47 photos featuring the seer had been stolen from the mutt. Based on CCTV footage, police had nabbed two persons on November 7.