Baba’s casket sold to devotee on April 5

The casket used to freeze and preserve the mortal remains of Baba over the two days prior to his burial at Prashanti Nilayam in Puttaparthi on Wednesday, was purchased by a devotee on April 5, some 20 days before Baba was formally pronounced dead.
Lakshmi, who owns Malleswaram-based Kumar and Co. International confirmed to Deccan Chronicle that her company had sold the cabinet on April 5 to a man named Raju for Rs1,07,000.
Raju, cagey about whom the freezer cabinet was meant for, said he was heading for Mysore, changing his story to say it was meant for someone in Coimbatore.
Lakshmi who runs the ambulance and coffin services for the firm said: “When I saw the visuals for the first time on TV on April 24, I realised this was the same freezer box that we had sold to Raju on April 5. So I called him and he admitted that he had sent it to Puttaparthi after buying it from us.”
She also revealed that on April 24, the date when Baba was declared dead, they had voluntarily sent two more freezer boxes free of charge to Puttaparthi through MS Ramaiah Hospital who had been asked to send an embalmer for Baba’s body.