MANGALURU: A female acquaintance of the deceased Sri Lakshmivara Theertha of Shiroor Mutt was picked up for questioning on Saturday, hours after a Special Investigation Team was set up under the Udupi Police to probe the seer 's death. Police sources confirmed the woman's identity as Ramya Shetty (in picture) , a woman in her late thirties.However, when contacted, Udupi superintendent of police Laxman Nimbargi denied taking Ramya into custody. He said: "The suspicious death of the Shiroor Mutt seer has raised many questions. We have started the investigation based on Lathavya Acharya's (Swamiji's brother) complaint. We have done several inquiries and have taken important places of the mutt into our control. No person has been taken into custody yet. I cannot reveal more about the matter as it might adversely affect the investigation."A source claimed Ramya is a resident of Sullia-Puttur area and has a five-year-old son. The woman, according to the source, is divorced and was often seen at public gatherings in the mutt. She stays at an apartment at Kalsanka in Udupi.Besides Ramya, police are also interrogating six others over the suspicious death of the seer. The police are also awaiting an FSL report. An FIR will be filed if the report confirms poisoning.An auto-driver from Udupi, who was reportedly close to the seer, had allegedly introduced Ramya to him about four years ago. Their friendship grew stronger over time. It is alleged that she even used to cook the seer's favourite delicacies and serve him at the mutt premises. She had allegedly been carrying food for the seer for the past two years.It is also alleged that Ramya used to visit the mutt as a devotee every Monday, accompanied by her mother. She later started influencing the seer and gradually began to control mutt affairs. There are CCTV footages of Ramya distributing salaries to workers. It is also said that a few ornaments belonging to the seer were found from her.Meanwhile, an ex-employee with the Shiroor mutt alleged in Hassan on Saturday that a woman named Ramya Shetty was responsible for the sudden demise of the chief of Shiroor Mutt. Speaking to the reporters, Sunil Kumar alleged that Ramya Shetty was managing the day-to-day administration and the accounts of the mutt."She came to the mutt a year-and-a-half ago. She came as an ordinary devotee. But in a few days, she took control of the mutt. When I opposed her style of functioning, I was sent out of the mutt in a midnight using the help of rowdy elements," he alleged.Sunil Kumar claimed that he had worked as the manager of the mutt for over nine years and Ramya expelled him. "She was managing the hundi, bank accounts and the daily expenses of the mutt. Swamiji was treating all the employees well. We were respecting him like a god. But everything changed after the entry of Ramya," he alleged."None of the mutts are administered by a woman. In a first, it happened at the Shiroor Mutt," he said. "She brought all the food items. The seer was facing opposition from all the corners, including Ashta Mutts, because of Ramya," he said.'Ajja also a lover': Audio clip goes viralAn audio clip where the seer is talking to a disciple claiming the 'ajja' (grandfather) in mutt was also not celibate has gone viral. He is heard saying in the viral audio that the ajja also has a lover and six children, one of them working as a doctor in Chennai. "In mutt, sex was common," the seer is heard saying further. He also accuses the 'ajja' of committing murders and demanding money from him.

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