Lingayat mutt sex scandal: Accused seer denied bail, custody extended
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Sep, 2022 11:30 AM
Chitradurga (Karnataka), Sep 27 (IANS) Denying bail to rape accused Lingayat seer of the Chitradurga Murugha Mutt, a court in Karnataka's Chitradurga district extended the Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru's judicial custody till October 10.
Second Additional Sessions Judge B.K. Komala has also extended the judicial custody of accused number two, hostel warden Rashmi, till October 10.
As the accused seer's judicial custody ended on October 10, he was presented before the court and after its order, he was taken to the Central Jail in the district.
The court had earlier rejected his plea to consider bail on medical grounds and also denied him special permission to have food from the Mutt and conduct worship during the imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders have called a meeting on September 29 to discuss on the accused seer's decision not to step down as the head of the Chitradurga mutt in spite of the serious allegations under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The mutt, one of the richest among the Lingayat mutts, has 3,000 branches all across the country and runs more than 150 premier education institutions.
The letter circulated among leaders of the community states that as the accused seer is not coming forward to step down, it would affect the heritage and prestige of the mutt, sources said.
The Chief Minister, in a statement, said that the decision "reflects the sorry state of affairs in the country as the party in power is recklessly running the country without bothering about its youth".
In a Facebook post, the Bambiha gang accused Aulakh of being involved in Moosewala's shooting. It also alleged that Aulakh extorted money from other singers in the Punjabi music industry.
On sustained interrogation, it was revealed that Manoj Kumar had marital issues with his wife due to which he started sending friend requests to random women on social media and would harass them through calling and messaging apps.
The government said that not many in the age group of 21 to 24 years have savings of Rs 12 lakh and after four years many big companies have announced to hire 'skilled' and 'disciplined' Agniveers. Graduation courses will also start for Agniveers which will be recognised in India and abroad.
For last three days, Rahul Gandhi was grilled for about 30 hours in total by a three-member ED team. On Wednesday, the Congress leader's questioning ended at around 10 p.m. but he left the ED headquarters at around 11:45 p.m.
The police have identified four shooters behind the crime, an official statement said. Moosewala, who left his house at around 5 p.m. on May 29 along with two persons -- Gurwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh (cousin) -- was shot dead by unidentified people.
