Three trusted aides arrested over Bhaiyyu Maharaj suicide

INDORE

: Investigation into the suicide of Bhaiyyu Maharaj, a spiritual leader, took a dramatic turn on Friday when three of his most trusted aides -

Vinayak Dudhade

,

Palak

and

Sharad Deshmukh

- were arrested for driving him to suicide through a deadly plot that involved drugging, extortion, blackmail and relentless pressure to marry Palak.


Police say Palak is the mastermind and used to blackmail the guru with a video that she threatened to make viral unless he married her by June 16, 2018. Bhaiyyu Maharaj shot himself on June 12. All three have been charged with abetment to suicide, extortion and conspiracy, and accused of replacing his medication to push him into depression. They have been remanded in jail.

The breakthrough came when police managed to retrieve SMS chats between Vinayak and Palak, said ASP Prashant Choubey. "Through this, we got to know that they were pressurising Maharaj for money and marriage. The trio started blackmailing Maharaj in June 2017," he added. Police say the trio began planning the conspiracy soon after Maharaj married Aayushi in 2017.

Police have also found that on June 10, two days before Maharaj committed suicide, the trio started threatening to frame him in a rape case. The guru shot himself dead on June 12.

On Friday, Aayushi and her mother Kumudini Devi met DIG Harinarayanachari Mishra and told him about how the trio was blackmailing Bhaiyyu Maharaj, say sources.

“Palak, a resident of Futi Kothi area, is the mastermind. She used to come here before Bhaiyyu Maharaj's second marriage, and started a ‘fake’ love affair with him. She also took his video. After the guru married Aayushi, Palak stopped coming to Bhaiyyu Maharaj's home but began threatening to make the video viral. She demanded Rs 1.50 lakh every month to keep her mouth shut and began pressuring him to marry her before June 16, 2018. Vinayak Dudhale and Sharad, a special servant of Bhaiyyu Maharaj, were also involved,” said Choubey.