Basavalinga Swami became chief seer of the 400-year-old mutt in 1997.
Basavalinga Swami, a 45-year-old seer of the Lingayat sect, was on Monday found hanging from a room's window grille at Kanchugal Bande Mutt, which he headed, in Karnataka's Ramanagara district, police said.
His last few calls are now being traced to probe a "blackmail" angle, police said, as he's left a two-page suicide note about being harassed by "some people who wanted to remove him from his position". The blackmail was over an audio conversation with a woman, news agency ANI reported, citing sources in the police.
Basavalinga Swami was the chief seer of the mutt for 25 years.
Police said they have registered a case of abetment to suicide and investigation is on.
Police at the mutt in Kempapura village, Ramnagara district, Karnataka
The seer, who became mutt chief in 1997, recently celebrated his silver jubilee.
Sources told news agency PTI that staff were alarmed after the puja room door was closed till six in the morning, which was unusual as the seer used to be awake by 4 am and kept the doors open. As he did not respond to knocks or phone calls, staff checked from the rear and found him hanging. They informed the police.
In the suicide note, he accused some people of blackmailing him by assassinating his character and has even named them, cops said. Police refused to share specifics at this time.
The seer's last rites were performed on Monday evening, after completing due procedures and post-mortem, and he was buried at the mutt.
In December last year, the head of Chilume Mutt, also named Basavalinga Swamy, was found hanging in a similar fashion. He reportedly had died upset over his deteriorating health, and was said to be depressed.
(With inputs by ANI and PTI)