Puttur, Jul 2: Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Dakshina Kannada district secretary Radhakrishna Bhat, aged 61, from Puttur suddenly collapsed while boarding a train at Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station in New Delhi and died on Tuesday evening.
The incident occurred when they were boarding a train from New Delhi to Mangaluru while returning from their intended pilgrimage.
Hailing from Kutrupady near Kadaba, Radhakrishna Bhat was residing in Nehru Nagar in Puttur. He was part of a six-member group that had embarked to Uttarakhand on a pilgrimage.
After his death, an autopsy was conducted at a hospital in New Delhi and his body was flown to Bengaluru on a flight. The remaining members of the group brought the body back to Puttur on Wednesday night where it was kept for well wishers to pay their last respects.
His body was cremated at the crematorium in Puttur, according to sources.
Radhakrishna Bhat had stirred up a controversy over a year ago when he made a statement at a press conference that swamijis were like lifeless bodies and it was not right to touch their feet to pay one's respects.
The bold statements had brought rebuke and condemnation from several quarters including mutts and disciples. In view of the pressure to revoke his statements, Radhakrishna apologised publicly and vowed to visit seers, mutts and temples to cleanse his guilt. It is learnt that he had wished to make a pilgrimage to Kedarnath temple in the same regard.
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