Bangalore, Jan. 17 :    Bangalore, Jan. 17:  Once the alarm bells rang, the first to visit controversial godman Sai Baba at his ashram in Whitefield on the outskirts of the city was director-general of police V.V. Bhaskar, an ardent devotee. Bhaskar and his team found the baba in fine fettle but fear had gripped the hallowed precincts. Police had just taken into custody a youth who appeared to be the would-be assassin. The man, identified as Somasundaram, was found lurking inside the ashram with a hidden air-pistol. Initial interrogations revealed that Somasundaram was from Dharmapuri district in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, arousing suspicion of links with the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). A case of attempted murder has been registered, Bhaskar said. In August, the police had tightened security around Sai Baba, who has millions of followers in India and abroad, following reports that he was under threat from the LTTE. Preliminary investigations have revealed no link between the man arrested and the perceived LTTE threat. Somasundaram, an unemployed youth, is a devotee of Sai Baba and had been to the ashram for darshan. But why the air-pistol? Somasundaram, who was first caught by volunteers at the ashram while the godman was giving an audience in the morning, has told the police that he was carrying the gun only to scare volunteers in case they prevented him from getting Sai Baba's darshan. 'He is an obsessed devotee who was only trying to get the attention of Baba as he had been prevented from getting a direct audience with Baba in the last couple of days. He was carrying with him a lottery ticket, which he wanted Baba to bless,' said a district police official. The Sai Baba's devotees regard him as a miracle man. One of his most famous acts is producing sacred ash from thin air. But his critics have dubbed him a trickster. In early 1993, the controversial godman, whose main abode is his Puttaparthi ashram in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district, had survived an assassination attempt involving his own devotees. It was foiled by the police but the encounter left four people dead. Investigations by the Andhra Pradesh police are still under wraps. Two of the suspected assailants - Vijay Prabhu and B.Ravindranath - had told the police at that time they wanted to expose the 'clique' surrounding the godman, whose trust has assets worth several crores of rupees. The LTTE is reportedly unhappy with the godman for not only encouraging Sinhalese politicians but also for not condemning the atrocities against Tamils by security forces in Sri Lanka. However, neither the Sai Baba establishment nor the police have received any direct threat from the Tamil Tigers.