Thaindian News

By Juhan Samuel

Kochi, May 17 (ANI): Aluva town police station near here on Saturday witnessed an unusual scene as the Swami Himaval Maheswara Bhadrananda threatening to commit suicide, fired two shots from his pistol, injuring himself and a police official before being overpowered by the police.

Himaval reportedly called up the reporter of a local television channel and threatened to commit suicide, as his reputation had been “tarnished” by the media and the police.

Police, on being alerted by the reporter, rushed to Himaval’s rented house at Aluva, and found him sitting with a loaded pistol pointing at his temple and his finger on the trigger.

As the police was trying to push out reporters and television camerapersons from the scene, Himaval fired two shots, injuring himself and Aluva CI Babu Kumar.

Swami Bhadrananda famous as Ernakulam Swami had been arrested and let off on bail by Kochi police only yesterday on charges of trespassing into Mangalam daily office and threatening journalists.

The complaint filed by daily’s Kochi unit manager R Rajiv states that raged by a report being published by the daily on fraud swamis, Bhadranandaji came with his assistant to the office on May 13 and threatened news editor Rajesh Mulakulam and chief reporter Stephan Areekara that he would not spare even a single journalist who tried to malign him.

Another high profile ‘godman’ Swami Amritachaitanya alias Santosh Madhavan had been arrested by the State Police on May 13 on charges of rape of minor girls, making of pornographic films and cheating a Dubai-based Keralite businesswoman Serafin Edwin of Rs 40 lakh (ANI)