Sri Vachanananda Swami was removed as the head of the Veerashaiva Lingayat Panchamasali Guru Peeth at Harihar by the trust committee on 13 April 2026. Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Expelled head of the Veerashaiva Lingayat Panchamasali Guru Peetha of Harihar Sri Vachanananda Swami appeared at Harihar Rural police station in Davangere district for questioning in connection with a case under the POCSO Act. The police grilled him for about four hours.
The diviner was accused of misbehaving with a minor boy who was staying at a free hostel run by a mutt in Harihar. As soon as the allegations surfaced, the seer went to court on April 21.
The First Additional District and Sessions Court (Special Court for POCSO Act) granted him anticipatory bail on the condition that he cooperates with the investigation.
The seer reported to the Harihar Rural Police Station at 10 am and was questioned by the police around 2 pm. Subsequently, the diviner was taken for a medical examination, after which he returned to the mutt.
The complaint was lodged at the Laxmeshwar police station in Gadag district by the mother of the 16-year-old boy.
After the case was registered under the POCSO Act, it was subsequently handed over to the Harihar Rural Police Station. The hostel is under the jurisdiction of Harihar Rural Police Station.
In her complaint, the boy’s mother accused the fortune teller of receiving massages from her son and other minor boys.
The boy lived in a hostel run by the mutt from 2021 to 2024. The complaint said the fortune teller entered the bathroom when the minor boys were taking a bath and forced them to massage his body, including his private parts. The complaint also accuses the fortune teller of threatening the boys with dire consequences if they divulge the activities.
The seer was expelled by the Guru Peetha trust on April 13 after the expiry of the deadline given to the trustees to abdicate at the Shwaas Yoga Peetha in Bengaluru. This led to a series of events where the seer refused to leave the mutt and a section of devotees accused the administrator of embezzlement. Several confidants have accused the fortune teller of receiving body massages from underage boys.
Inquiry by the Committee for the Protection of Children
The Davangere District Child Welfare Committee is said to be in the final stages of submitting an inquiry report into the complaint filed by three other inmates of the hostel in April.
The boys complained to the commission that the soothsayer was abusing and assaulting them and that they were not given medicine during their illness.
Subsequently, a committee headed by its president Manjula Mahesh visited the Guru Peeth on April 17 to investigate the matter and the committee also recorded the statement of the diviner and others.
Published – 14 May 2026 11:47 IST
