HUBBALLI: Two former employees of Vastu expert Chandrashekhar Guruji, who was stabbed to death at a hotel in Hubballi on Tuesday, have confessed to the police that they murdered him over a property dispute.
The accused Mahantesh Shirur and Manjunath Marewada who brutally murdered Sarala Vastu firm head Chandrashekhar Guruji and were nabbed within four hours of the crime have been remanded to police custody for six days by a court on Wednesday. Both had fled from the spot and were nabbed by the police near Ramdurg in Belagavi district.
Police said Guruji had started a real estate business and used to construct houses and apartments as per Vastu, which is in huge demand by people. Guruji’s firm, which has offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hubballi and other cities, made huge sums of money and also had disproportionate assets in the name of his employees, including one of the assailants Mahantesh. Properties worth crores of rupees were registered in the name of Mahantesh Shirur, who looked after Guruji’s finances.
Killer forced to return assets
Mahantesh quit his job at Sarala Vastu in 2016. Later, Guruji forced Shirur to return the assets, which led to the murder. Shirur’s wife Vanajakshi, who also worked in Sarala Vastu from 2005-19, was detained by police but released on Tuesday evening.
Vanajakshi said: “Guruji was a good man and my husband did a mistake by killing him. There was no dispute between us over financial issues. I don’t know about Guruji’s properties which are in my husband’s name. For the last 4-5 days he had not returned home. When I asked him, he said he was busy.” Guruji’s nephew Sanjay Angadi filed a complaint with Vidyanagar police station.