FSL report cites cirrhosis as cause of Shiroor seer's death

Udupi-based Shiroor mutt seer Laxmivara Teertha Swamiji died of liver cirrohosis and no trace of poison was found in his organs by the Forensic Science Laboratory, sources said here quoting the lab report which virtually ruled out foul play in the death of the controversial pontiff on July 19.

Police said at Udupi that the report had been sent to Kasturba hospital at Manipal where the 55-year-old seer died. Doctors at the hospital had then said that they suspected poisoning might have cause the death.

However, the team of doctors who conducted the post-mortem, in their report submitted to police on July 30, had not specified the actual cause of death, saying they would arrive at a conclusion after getting the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report.

It would now take a few days for expert doctors to come to a conclusion on the exact reason, the sources said.

Udupi district Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi, who also confirmed that the FSL report had been received, however, declined to divulge details.

Police sources said they were likely to question the doctors at the Kasturba hospital on their statement giving room for suspicion of poisoning.

"There is suspicion of poisoning and toxicological samples have been sent," a hospital statement had said after the death of the swamiji.

The seer was suffering from severe breathlessness, hypertension and massive gastrointestinal bleeding, the doctors had said at the time of admission.

Around 80 persons were picked up for questioning in the case, registered after the seer's brother Lathavya Acharya filed a police complaint suspecting foul play behind the death but none of them had mentioned anything about murder plot or poisoning, police sources said.

Lathavya Acharya had alleged that the seer had been poisoned to death and demanded a high level inquiry into it.

Shiroor mutt is one among the 'ashta' (eight) mutts around Udupi, established by 13th century philosopher Madhwacharya.

The seer had differences over some issues with pontiffs of six of the eight mutts in Udupi in the coastal region.

After he fell ill a few months ago, the seer had given the idols of the presiding deities of his mutt to Ishtapriya Theertha Swami, junior seer of Adamaru mutt to keep them at the sanctum sanctorum of the Sri Krishna mutt.

But when he sought the idols back after his recovery, the seers of six of the ashta mutts refused to hand over them.

They agreed to return the idols only after the seer appointed a junior, which was not acceptable to him. He also reportedly threatened to file criminal case against the other Swamijis.

A versatile figure, the seer, who played drums and was a swimmer too, was at the centre of a controversy recently after he expressed a desire to contest the state assembly polls in May as an independent candidate or from BJP, if he was offered the ticket.

Later he dropped his electoral plans.

The swamiji's style of living had also reportedly left some seers of other "astha" mutts unhappy for allegedly crossing the redlines drawn for the pontiffs.

Madhwacharya, who founded the 'Dvaita' (dualism) school of Vedanta, had appointed eight of his direct disciples as head of each mutt that were established in eight villages around the Udupi Krishna Temple.

During the Paryaya, a religious ritual that takes place every alternate year, the puja and administration of the Krishna temple is vested with the seers of the ashta mutts in turns.