Just an incident, not an attack on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Police

A preliminary investigation into the shootout at Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living ashram near Bangalore on Sunday evening has revealed that it was not an attack, but just an “incident”, director general of police Ajai Kumar Singh said.

Singh made the claim after visiting the ashram on Kanakapura Road, about 30 km away from Bangalore, on Monday morning. The miscreant/s used a .32-mm pistol and fired from about 700 feet away, he said, adding that the bullet was aimed high, but brushed past Sri Sri’s disciple Vinay Kumar’s thigh.

Singh said police would conduct an audit and beef up security of the ashram and Sri Sri, who at present has Y-category security.

The incident
Vinay Kumar heard a sound around 6.10 pm on Sunday. The injury came to light five minutes later when Sri Sri left the ashram after satsang and sat in his car.

Vinay Kumar, who was accompanying him, suddenly noticed a wound in his thigh and later found a bullet nearby. He handed over the bullet to the private security at the ashram.

Around 9.15 pm, the private security informed police, who rushed to the ashram and began investigation. Personnel from the forensic science laboratory arrived at around 11 pm and took possession of the bullet. The case was registered under the Indian Arms Act and IPC by Ramanagaram District Police.