Godman’s gun licence issued in Maharashtra
Indore, June 15: Spiritual guru Bhaiyyu Maharaj used a foreign- made revolver to kill himself and the weapon’s licence was first issued to him in 2002 in Washim district of Maharashtra, a senior police officer said on Friday.
Ten years later, he got an all- India licence for the revolver, made by Webley & Scott, from another district in Maharashtra, he said.
“The first licence of the revolver ( made by Webley & Scott) was issued in 2002 from Maharashtra’s Washim district in the name of the spiritual guru.
“In 2012, he applied for an all- India licence from Buldhana district, also in Maharashtra, and got the same in his name. Probably he used the same ( weapon) for committing suicide,” Deputy Inspector General Harinarayan Chari Mishra told PTI.
Bhaiyyu Maharaj, who was also into social work, used to often visit the two districts in Maharashtra as he had a number of relatives there, the police said.
The 50- year- old popular spiritual leader allegedly shot himself at his residence here on June 12 and a purported suicide note mentioned stress as the reason.
His original name was Udaysingh Deshmukh, and he hailed from a family of landlords in Madhya Pradesh’s Shujalpur.
The police had seized the revolver and the bullet recovered from the spot and sent them for forensic examination.
Meanwhile, police have recorded the statements of Kuhu ( Bhaiyyu Maharaj’s daughter from his first marriage), his second wife Ayushi, close aide Vinayak Dudhade, his driver and other persons considered close to him as part of investigation into the incident, an official said. The statements of some of them confirmed that the godman was tense.