Hubballi horror: Vastu expert Chandrashekhar stabbed to death

NT Correspondent
Hubballi

Noted Vastu expert Chandrashekhar Guruji, who owned ‘Sarala Jeevana,’ a private channel, was stabbed to death in full public view at a private hotel in Hubballi on Tuesday. The guruji died on the spot with one of the assailants reportedly stabbing him around 60 times. He was declared brought dead at a private hospital.

The incident was caught in CCTV cameras at the reception counter of the hotel and was uploaded on social media within hours of the heinous crime. According to police, the ghastly incident took place around 12:20 pm with the video grab showing two persons seated on the sofa near the reception counter.

The Guruji was seen approaching the two youth and one of them did a namaskara even as another person started attacking him with a sharp weapon. A woman hotel staffer at the reception, horrified on seeing the guruji being stabbed repeatedly, fled the scene.

After ensuring that the guruji would not survive, the duo walked out of the hotel. After they had left, the hotel staff informed the jurisdictional police. According to the police, a woman identified as Vanajakshi worked at ‘Sarala Jeevana’ Channel between 2011 and 2019 and the guruji who was also involved in the sale of Vaastu compliant houses and other immovable property, had reportedly made benami property transactions in her name for many years.

Subsequently, they allegedly developed differences and the guruji demanded that the property be transferred back to his name which resulted in a dispute. Police sources said the accused may have hatched a plot with her husband to eliminate the guruji and reportedly hired two youth to carry out the attack. Vanajakshi and husband, Mahantesh Shirol have been taken into custody for interrogation.

The police have not revealed the identity of the two others who carried out the attack. Chandrashekhar Guruji had addressed over 2,000 seminars on Vaastu not only in India but abroad too. He was the recipient of 16 international level awards and had a doctorate in both civil engineering and Cosmic Architecture.

The cops acting on information that the assailants were moving in a car near Ramadurga in Belagavi district on the state highway and after identifying their locations from their mobile phones, brought an earth moving machine to the highway and stationed it across the road. As the car approached, the cops surrounded the two accused with revolvers and bundled them into a jeep before bringing them to Hubballi Police Station.

Those who took part in the operation included Ramadurga Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramanagouda Hatti, Circle Inspector I.R. Pattanshetty and Police Subinspector Shivanand Karjol who led a team of 22 police personnel to nab the duo within four hours of the crime. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the killing of Guruji was a heinous act and the killers should be provided stringent punishment.