Mahant of Junagadh temple ‘shoots himself dead’

Police said Rajubharati shot himself in the head with his licensed revolver inside a farm cottage belonging to one of his acquaintances in the Khadiya village near Junagadh city at around 10:30 am. He was rushed to a government hospital in Junagadh where he was pronounced dead.

The SP said a case of accidental death was being registered at Junagadh taluka police station. (Representational/File)

Listen to this article

Mahant of Junagadh temple ‘shoots himself dead’

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Rajubharati, the mahant of Khetaliya Dada Temple in Junagadh, allegedly shot himself dead hours after purported videos showing him with a woman and audio clips of him talking intimately to women went viral Tuesday.

Police said Rajubharati shot himself in the head with his licensed revolver inside a farm cottage belonging to one of his acquaintances in the Khadiya village near Junagadh city at around 10:30 am. He was rushed to a government hospital in Junagadh where he was pronounced dead. The mahant shot himself hours after the video and audio clips started circulating on social media in the wee hours of Tuesday.

“We have received video and audio clips from the media and have also seized his phone and we are trying to unlock it. However, we have not recovered any suicide note so far,” Ravi Teja Vasamsetty, superintendent of police of Junagadh, told The Indian Express.

Police said the mahant was around 40 to 45 years old and a native of Odisha. He had become the mahant of Khetaliya Dada Mandir on the outskirts of Junagadh around 10 years ago after the then mahant, Kalubharati, was allegedly shot dead over a land dispute.

Subscriber Only Stories

View All