‘Gopan Swami’s cause of death was heart attack’: Kerala Police close Neyyattinkara 'samadhi' case

Thiruvananthapuram: The police have submitted their final report to the court regarding the case involving allegations that children interred their father in a 'samadhi' (ritual burial) at Aaralumoodu in Neyyattinkara. With this, the police have officially closed the investigation into the death of 81-year-old Gopan Swami at his residence, Kavuvilakam House, in Aaralumoodu.

The controversy began on January 11, 2025, when posters appeared near their house announcing the death of Gopan Swami. His wife and children claimed that he had attained ‘samadhi’. This raised suspicions among local residents. When neighbours inquired about what had happened to their father and the cause of death, they allegedly received strange and contradictory answers from the children.

According to the children, Gopan Swami passed away around 11 am on January 10, and the funeral rites were performed later that night to inter him in “samadhi”.

Suspecting foul play, the residents approached the local ward member and the Neyyattinkara Police. However, the children repeatedly informed the media and the police that he was interred in accordance with his own personal wishes.

Known locally as Gopan Swami, he had constructed a Shiva temple adjacent to his home and performed religious rituals there for many years. His family gave a statement to the police stating that he had fallen ill a few months before his death and had instructed his wife and children to inter him in “samadhi" after his passing. He had expressed the same wish to several local residents and the ward member.

He had prepared his own burial site long in advance, constructing a “padma peedham” (lotus pedestal) and bringing in the stone to be installed above it. In their statements, the wife and children explained that he had strictly instructed them not to inform the locals until the “samadhi” rites were completed.

As a devotee of Lord Shiva, he believed this was the only way to attain union with the deity, which is why the rituals were conducted without informing anyone beforehand.

Conversely, locals alleged that rituals were conducted at midnight in the temple he built and accused the family of practicing occult arts. At one point, residents even suspected that the children had murdered him and buried the body. Following these allegations, the police registered a case and initiated a detailed investigation.

Subsequently, the police exhumed the body from the site and sent it for a post-mortem examination. Neither the initial post-mortem report nor the toxicology analysis of the internal organs revealed any evidence of murder. The post-mortem confirmed that he died due to a heart attack. Although the police conducted a thorough investigation into the possibility of homicide, the final report submitted to the court concluded that no such circumstances existed. Following the investigation, Gopan Swami's body was re-interred with grand ritual ceremonies attended by ascetics and monks from across the country.