Residents gather at the Udaseen Math on Thursday after the priest was found dead. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Oct. 27: The decomposed body of Udaseen Math’s caretaker was recovered today from his room, triggering speculation if his death was the fallout of the alleged controversy over the Math’s leadership.

The 40-year-old victim, Tarun Das, was looking after the Math in the Kurji area for the past three months. Unable to bear the nauseating stench emanating from the Math, few residents of the area went inside to check if something was wrong.

After detecting that the smell was coming from Tarun’s unlocked room, they pushed its door and saw him lying on his bed. They immediately informed Digha police about the discovery.

Superintendent of police city central Shivdeep Lande said: “The body (of Tarun) was on the bed. The body had decomposed. It seemed he died at least a week back.”

Lande said: “The police did not find any weapon in Tarun’s room. Several paintings of gods and goddesses were recovered, though. Tarun’s body has been sent for post-mortem. At present, the police are trying to collect information on Tarun’s background.”

The officer said: “This Math belongs to the Udaseen sect founded by one Balram Das Udasee in 1956. The Chhapra-based committee of the Math has huge property in terms of land. Balram Das’s successor Ram Das Udasee passed away two months ago at Kurji Hospital. Since then, Hira Das and Tarun were looking after the Math’s day-to-day affairs.”

Sources said after Ram Das passed away, the committee had tipped a person to be his successor. But there were conflicts over his nomination and was not made the head of the Math.

Digha police personnel said the role of Hira was under scanner. An officer said: “Hira, who claims himself to be the priest of the Math, claimed that he was not in the Math for the past few days. We are questioning him at the moment.”

Lande, however, said: “Nothing is very clear at this moment. If we spot an internal conflict, we will also probe the death of Ram Das. The police have been told that he died a natural death. But we will investigate the matter.”