HUBLI: The head of a mutt in a Belgaum village allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison on Saturday night. But devotees of 75-year-old Anand Swami claimed that he would come back to life after three days, as part of a miracle he had promised them.

It took the intervention of several taluk officials to convince the devotees that their swami ji was indeed dead and allow his last rites to be performed late on Sunday. The bizarre incident occurred in Kempavad village after the swami, head of Ganesh mutt, was found dead.

Mutt inmates said the swami was fasting on Saturday on account of the auspicious ‘Sankashti’. “He told us to observe ‘jagaran’ (night-long prayer). Before retiring to his room, he told us he would die and come back to life in three days,” they added. Devotees said he had conducted such death experiments but for shorter durations of 16-25 hours, and “had come back to life” in the past. Nathagouda Patil said when the swami expressed his desire to conduct another miracle, many villagers had tried to dissuade him.

Health officer Dr TG Kage, who did an ECG on the body, said the man was clinically dead. “Officials had to convince the devotees to do the final rites,” he said.

