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The Karnataka government has ordered an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into the murder of Acharya Kamakumar Nandi Maharaj, a Jain fortune teller.
Prime Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday announced in the Legislative Assembly that the CID will investigate the murder, which took place on July 6. The police have arrested two people, and a preliminary investigation indicated that the killing occurred due to a financial dispute. The Bharatiya Janata Party and members of the Jain community demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Nandiparvat Jain Ashram in Chikodi district of Pelagavi district went missing on July 5. The seer left his room to retire for the day and was the last person to see him alive. On 6 July when the cook saw the room empty, she informed the trustees who run the ashram. After searching all day for the seer, a missing persons complaint was registered at the Shikodi Police Station on July 7.
On June 8, the seer was found by police, whose body was cut into pieces and thrown into a dug hole in Khatakbhavi village of Ribagh taluk.
Police later arrested Narayana Basappa Malli and his henchman Hassan Dalayath. They were taken into police custody and are now under judicial detention. A police officer said: “The current investigation indicates that there were financial disputes that led to the killing of the monk.”
Narayana used to work as a farmer near the seer’s ashram in Hirekodi village in Chikkodi Taluk. The second defendant, Hassansab, is a driver. Both defendants are 33 years old.
A police officer said, “The investigation suggested that the monk was lending interest to devotees and other people. A few years back, Narayana took a loan of INR 6,000 for his agricultural field, but he was not able to repay the loan. When the amount of interest accumulated to Rs 1 lakh, The seer often demanded that he repay the money with interest and threatened to take away the farmland. Unable to face the harassment, he, along with Dalaith, killed the seer.
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