Mumbai, June 12: Spiritual leader Bhaiyyuji Maharaj reportedly committed suicide at his residence in Indore on Tuesday. He was declared dead at Bombay Hospital of Indore this afternoon. The reason behind the suicide is yet to be ascertained. According to reports, the Madhya Pradesh police has initiated a probe immediately after the incident. The spiritual guru was a popular name among high profile politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former president Pratibha Patil. Many political leaders reached him for advice.

Before becoming a spiritual guru, Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was a model. He did modelling for Siyaram brand. Son of a Zamindar (landlord) family, his high profile lifestyle grabbed eyeballs. He had a sprawling ashram in Indore and used to travel in a white Mercedes SUV.

He also reportedly played a crucial role during the Anna Hazare movement at Ramlila ground, Delhi, to introduce the Lokpal Bill. He was also a staunch supporter of the BJP. Bhaiyyuji had said that there could not be any comparison between PM Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Following his statement, he drew a lot of flak from Congressmen. He married twice and rumours also say that he may have committed suicide due to family problems. During his second marriage, he was also embroiled in controversy after a woman who claimed herself an actress, script-writer accused Bhaiyyuji Maharaj on her Facebook post of duping her.

Reportedly he was also offered a ministry by Madhya Pradesh government, however, he denied the offer.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 12, 2018 03:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).