A Lingayat seer who died by suicide on Monday was being “honeytrapped” and blackmailed, the Karnataka police said on Wednesday. An unknown woman has done this to me,” reads a line in the suicide note, said to a senior officer, on the condition of anonymity.

The seer, Basavalinga Swami, was found hanging at 6 am from his prayer room’s window grille at Kanchugal Bande Mutt, which he headed, in Ramanagara district. Two names in the suicide note are connected to the mutt. His suicide note mentioned blackmail and harassment by “some people who wanted to remove him from his position”, police had said yesterday.

“The private moments of the woman (unidentified so far) and the seer were captured by the woman using her phone's screen-recording function,” the sources said.

“The woman and a few others threatened the seer that they would release four obscene videos,” a probe official said. “We have leads on who these people are. We are investigating every angle possible,” the district police chief said when approached with questions,

Asked if there big names involved, a source in the police says, “There might be politics within and outside the mutt. Some seers are well-connected with politicians, and they could pull strings to defame each other. But the suicide note has no mention of any politicians at all.”
Basavalinga Swami took over the 400-year-old mutt’s leadership at the age of 20 in 1997, and recently celebrated the silver jubilee.

Last December, the head of Chilume Mutt, also named Basavalinga Swamy, died by suicide in a similar fashion. He reportedly was upset over his failing health.

The sect was founded in the 12th century by social reformer and poet Basaveshwara, who has a huge following in the south Indian states. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and his predecessor BS Yeddiyurappa come from the sect. The sect has BJP’s backing, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took ceremonial initiation into it in August at Muruga Mutt, hoping to broaden the party’s appeal ahead of elections due in about six months.