CHAMARAJANAGAR: Four accused have been arrested, including Mahadeshwara Hill Saluru Mutt seer Pattada Immadi Mahadevaswamy, in connection with the food poisoning incident that occurred at a temple in Chamarajanagar, the Karnataka Police said on Wednesday.

It has also become clear that food poisoning was all but planned.

Addressing a press conference, South zone Inspector General of Police Sharath Chandra said: "This was done to get control over the temple. So far four persons have been arrested. It is suspected that poison was mixed with the prasad."

The other accused in the case have been identified as Ambika, Madesha and Doddaya.

On December 14, around 150 people fell ill after they consumed prasad at the Sulavadi Kichchugutti Maramma temple. Of 150, 15 people were killed while others are undergoing treatment at a hospital

The police said that Mahadevaswamy, who is the main accused in the case, allegedly had differences with the temple's trust regarding the infrastructure and construction decision and thus he wanted to ruin the image of the committee to gain control over the administration. Along with Mahadevaswamy, his secret lover Ambika, procured pesticides from the agriculture department by stating that her crop is deteriorating.

Doddaya poisoned the prasad while the butler was away for a shower. Devotees of the temple had gathered for stone laying ceremony of ‘gopuram’ at that time. Even though butler noticed a change in smell from the food, Madesha told that it must be the smell of burning camphor.

The perpetrators calculated that temple trust’s head Chinappi will be arrested for food poisoning. When news spread that people died after eating prasad, Doddaya went to hospital claiming he is sick. But doctors informed the police that there is nothing wrong with his health. This led to Doddaya’s arrest which was a turning point in revealing the conspiracy behind the tragedy.