He called himself Guruvayur Sant Tapasvi Lamkhade Maharaj and mostly preferred to stay in his room next to a temple. And he spent most of his time singing bhajans and reading scriptures with the boys,aged seven to 16. Many in the neighbourhood had seen Lamkhande outside the 10×10 room in a congested alley in Moshi only early in the morning or in the evening when he took a stroll. He used to greet those whom he met during these breaks with a Hari Om Hari. Even the family that owned the temple did not know where he came from or what he had been doing in the confines of the room. He had come to us six months ago,saying he would take care of the temple. We then allowed him to stay in the room, said Hanumant Sasthe,whose family built the temple. He said Lamkhande identified himself as a bachelor and the seven kids who accompanied him as his disciples. We learnt from relatives of the complainant that he was a married man with two children. Senior police officers said people rarely paid heed to their repeated warnings to submit details of their tenants. It was only on Saturday when a 16-year-old complained to his relatives that the guru had harassed him sexually that alerted the neighbours,who then caught him and handed him over to the police. The children used to attend the balak ashram shala,just a stones throw away from the temple. The new development has shaken the neighbourhood. Nageshwar Parkhe,who stays opposite the ashram,said Lamkhande hardly interacted with anybody. We are shocked by the incident. Some times,the door of his room used to remain open,but mostly it was closed. Usha Kumbhar,another neighbour,said,We never thought something of this sort could be going on inside. Sasthe said he preferred to demolishing the ashram rather than handing it over to any other self-styled sadhu.
