3 months after seer's arrest, Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga gets administrator

BENGALURU: The state government on Tuesday appointed retired IAS officer PS Vastrad the administrator of Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga with immediate effect, nearly three months after its pontiff Shivamurthy Murugha Swami was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting minor girls who were staying at a hostel run by the mutt.
The pontiff has been in judicial custody since September 1, and his bail application has been rejected twice. The government had been under pressure to appoint an administrator to the influential Lingayat mutt that runs over 150 educational institutions and owns properties worth crores. Basavaprabhu, pontiff of Davanagere's Virakta mutt, is the stand-in chief of the mutt.
Probe to look into adoption procedures
The decision to appoint an administrator was taken based on the report submitted by the district administration of Chitradurga. "The government felt it necessary to appoint an administrator to look after day-to-day administration, manage finances for the mutt, and ensure the properties owned by the mutt are protected," said the government order. A few days after the arrest of the Murgha Mutt pontiff, its administrator SK Basavarajan, a former MLA, was removed.
Meanwhile, the district administration has ordered a probe to ascertain the legalities in connection with the 22 orphaned children who were kept in an organisation run by Murugha Mutt. The probe will focus on whether the adoption procedures were followed while keeping the children at the mutt. The order was issued following a complaint by Odanadi organization, which alleged that the children were illegally kept at Basaveshwara Orphaned Children Home and Akkamahadevi hostel run by mutt.