BELAGAVI: The prime accused in the Jain monk’s murder case, Narayan Basappa Mali (33), had borrowed several lakhs of rupees from the victim, police said. A police team headed by DySP Basavaraj Yaligar on Thursday took the accused to the spot where the monk’s diary was burnt. The team collected the remains of the diary, two cell phones of the monk, two cell phones of the accused, and sent them all to forensic labs.
Investigations revealed that Narayan became close to Kamkumar Nandi Maharaj, the victim, a couple of years ago after supplying sand to the monk’s ashram for construction. In a short span of time, Narayan bought two tipper trucks and became a major sand supplier. The second accused, Hasansab Makbul Dalayat (33), used to work as Narayan’s driver.
When the monk forced Narayan to return the money, the accused started avoiding him. Angered by the monk’s repeated calls, Narayan with the help of Hasan allegedly attempted to kill him by giving electric shocks. When they failed in their attempt, they allegedly strangled the monk to death with a towel.
After committing the crime, Narayan burnt the diary to destroy evidence regarding his transactions. The accused also burnt the blood-stained clothes at the spot where they killed the monk. Then, they put the body into a gunny bag and took it to a field at Katakbhavi to dump it in an abandoned borewell. When they could not put the whole body into the borewell, they chopped it into pieces.