The police found a suicide note in Kashyap’s pocket which read: “Strict action should be taken against the accused in the Bhante Sanghraj Mahathero case. Such a crime should not be repeated and the monk community should get justice. I am committing suicide for this cause.”

According to D Nandbodhi Mahathero, a senior monk from Chembur, said Kashyap was an 'anagrik', a second stage to become a full-fledged monk. There are five stages a monk should pass through, said Nanbodhi. The first two are ‘samner’ and ‘anagrik’ in which the person is supposed to do religious work but can go back to his family. But when he enters the third stage of a ‘bhikshu’, he has to leave his family and devote his life to society and religion. The next two stages are ‘Thero’ and ‘Mahathero’. Nanbodhi said, “Kashyap was not seen in the area before and no one knows much about him in Mumbai.”

A senior police officer also said that Kashyap had taken ‘diksha’ some two-and-a-half years ago, but it is still not clear whether Kashyap and Sanghraj Mathero knew each other. The police also said that a receipt of the pesticide was recovered from the monk with the address of Nandura, a town near Nagpur.

Meanwhile, Kashyap’s body was taken to his native village in Parbhani by his family members.