Anna Leela Judy

Lucknow, Feb. 2: A jilted young man, still in love with an Australian devotee of Krishna, shot and critically injured her in the land of leela and then blew his head off after an early-morning showdown today.

Police said Saurav Singh burst into 26-year-old Anna Leela Judy’s Vrindavan flat, accused her of “playing” with his life and then fired at her from a revolver.

“We have studied the cellphone records of both Leela and Saurav. The transcripts reveal the two had an intimate relationship,” said Mathura special superintendent of police R.K. Chaturvedi.

But Leela, the officer added, had of late been “avoiding” Saurav. “In one call, she told him she was busy with some friends who had arrived from Australia and so couldn’t meet him.”

The police also suspect Saurav, 28, was jealous because of Leela’s “proximity” to another man from Mathura, 15km from Vrindavan — the idyllic garden of love where Krishna and Radha played out their leela immortalised by poets down the ages.

An officer probing the case said Saurav was heard telling Leela she had “no right to play with his life after four years of intimacy”.

Police sources said Saurav, nephew of former Uttar Pradesh minister Tejpal Singh, drove to Leela’s rented flat near an Iskcon temple around 2 in the night.

As Leela’s 22-year-old brother Kris opened the door, he barged in and locked all the doors of the flat. After an argument with Leela, he shot her.

“We never thought he was armed. As he accused my sister of using him, she tried to defend herself. But he whipped out his revolver and fired,” Kris told investigators.

As Leela lay bleeding on the floor, Saurav, Kris said, turned the gun on himself. “He used his father’s revolver to kill himself and brutally injure the Australian woman,” the SSP said.

The police have seized the gun. They also found beer cans, cigarette packets and some cartridges in Saurav’s Tata Indica.

Leela’s parents were away in Perth at the time of the shooting. The young woman, a resident of Vrindavan since 1998, was admitted to Agra’s Apollo Hospital but was later shifted to Delhi.

“Her condition is critical. We have sent her to Delhi as she has sustained multiple bullet injuries,” Apollo director Pankaj Mahendru said over the phone from Mathura.

The sources said Leela’s parents, who own a restaurant in Perth, were Iskcon members and used to frequently visit Vrindavan. As leela is part of Krishna lore, they chose the name for their daughter.

“They supply embroidery works on garments and decorative clothes from India to Australian customers,” a police officer said.

“They also export garlands made of beads, religious relics and dresses embroidered with Iskcon hymns.”

Her mother Susan used to be more regular in visiting this place and supervising the business.

Saurav’s father Makkhan Singh, a contractor in Mathura, is devastated.

“We had no idea of what Saurav was up to. We were worried when he did not come home till late in the night. He had said he was at a friend’s place,” Makkhan said.

Neighbours said Saurav was often seen with Leela at restaurants and, of late, had been insisting that she marry him. “But she wasn’t willing to do so,” said a neighbour.