MYSURU/CHAMARAJANAGAR: The Ramapura police have cracked the Maramma temple ‘prasadam’ poisoning case that claimed 15 lives, with the arrest of four persons. The main accused in the case is the junior pontiff of Salur mutt, Male Mahadeshwara Hills. He had allegedly hatched the plan to avenge his long-standing enmity with the senior pontiff, police said.
Inspector General of Police (Southern range) K V Sharat Chandra told the media on Wednesday that the arrested are Immadi Mahadeva Swamy aka Devanna Buddhi (52), junior seer of Salur mutt; Ambika (35) and her husband Mahadeva Swamy alias Madesha (46) from Martalli, and Dodda Thamadi alias Doddaiah (35) of Sulvadi. While the seer is the president of Sulvadi Maramma Temple Trust, Madesha is the manager. Doddaiah is a former employee of the trust.
On December 14, ten people died and over 100 were hospitalised after eating prasadam laced with pesticide at Kichuguttu Maramma Temple, Sulvadi, Chamarajanagar district. Four more died in three days.
The IGP said, “It was the result of a long-standing grudge the seer had been nursing against his senior pontiff, Guruswamy. Moreover, majority of trustees were favouring the senior pontiff, that did not go down well with the junior. As per the plan, Mahadeva Swamy wanted to fix his senior with the ulterior motive of getting rid of the latter and the trustees supporting him, to hold the reins of not just the mutt but also the temple trust.”
“Ambika meticulously executed the plan of spiking the prasadam at the instance of Mahadeva Swamy. While her husband Madesha kept a watch, Doddaiah spiked the tomato bhath in the kitchen attached to the temple complex,” Sharat Chandra said.
The IGP said, “The food had been prepared under the supervision of three cooks — Veeranna, Lokesh and Puttaswamy. While Veeranna went for a bath, the two others remained in the kitchen. It was then that Madesha and Doddaiah entered the kitchen to divert the attention of the remaining two cooks. As the seer Guruswamy was scheduled to arrive at the temple, the two allegedly directed them to arrange for plates and other utensils for the seer.”
Explaining the motive further, the IGP said, ‘The trustees had raised objection when the junior pontiff wanted to build a gopura (tower) at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. Though citing inability to fund such a huge project, the trustees, however, wanted to go ahead with it if the cost could be reduced by half to Rs 75 lakh. It was not agreeable to the senior seer.”
“A section of trustees went ahead with their own plans and invited both the pontiffs for the foundation-laying ceremony on December 14. Though both the seers accepted the invite, it was only Guruswamy who attended the rituals organised as part of the ceremony. It was also the intention of Mahadeva Swamy to let his senior attend the ceremony, only to defame him later,” the IGP said.