Mystery deepens as spiritual guru aide gets property rights

Anup Dutta

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Bhopal, June 13

The mystery surrounding the suicide of model-turned-spiritual leader Uday Singh Deshmukh, alias Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, has deepened with the Madhya Pradesh’s Indore police releasing some more content from a notepad he had purportedly written.

“All my powers of finance, properties, bank accounts, all power of signing authorities will be (with) Vinayak because I trust Vinayak. I am wanting this thing without any pressure because I am not the…,” wrote the 50-year-old spiritual guru in a notepad found at the suicide spot on Tuesday.

Vinayak, who had been his trusted aide for the past 15 years, has been given the property rights and not any of his family members.

Sources said Vinayak accompanied the late spiritual leader like his shadow and would counsel him on important issues. That is the reason he entrusted the task to take all decisions with regard to his properties to Vinayak. Henceforth, all transactions concerning Bhaiyyuji Maharaj's properties — worth about Rs 1,000 crore — would be executed only after Vinayak puts his signature.

Bhaiyyuji Maharaj had committed suicide by allegedly shooting himself at his residence in Indore district. Hours later, the police released some content from a notepad believed to be the suicide note written by the spiritual leader in which he said: “Somebody should be there to handle duties of family. I am leaving, too much stressed out. Fed up (sic).”

When contacted, the Indore police refused to share more content from the notepad. Besides the notepad, the police recovered the pistol that Bhaiyyuji apparently used to shoot himself. The pistol has been sent to a forensic lab for fingerprint scan, said a senior police officer.

The Congress has blamed the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for the incident. “He was worried about illegal mining in Narmada by Shivraj (MP) government and was offered the post of minister to shut his mouth. He rejected the offer and had told me about it on call,” senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh told a news channel. The Congress has demanded a CBI inquiry into the death.

A day before he committed suicide, Bhayyuji Maharaj met his second wife Dr Ayushi Sharma, whom he married in April this year. They met at a restaurant in Rau. Ayushi, 15-year-old daughter from his first wife Madhavi, performed his last rites on Wednesday. The spiritual leader enjoyed immense clout and a following cutting across political lines, mostly in MP, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted: “Learnt about the death of Shri Bhaiyyuji Maharaj. I had personal relationship with him. His untimely death is saddening. My humble tributes.” Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis expressed similar sentiments and hailed him for the work he did for the deprived. (With IANS inputs)