Vaastu expert brutally murdered in broad daylight

Hubballi: Well-known Vastu expert and spiritual leader, Chandrashekar Guruji was killed brutally by two assailants in broad daylight at a hotel lobby on Tuesday. Unidentified assailants, suspected to be contract killers, stabbed him with sharb weapons 60 times in 40 seconds and fled the spot. Chandrashekar Guruji died a few moments later before he was shifted to hospital.

The assailants had arrived at the Presidency hotel where Guruji had been staying for the last three days and wanted to 'consult' him regarding Vaastu issues. They had waited for about an hour before Chandrashekar Guruji arrived in the hotel lobby. While one of the assailants fell at his feet pretending to be seeking his blessings, another took out a sharp-edged weapon and stabbed him in the chest. Later, both stabbed him indiscreetly and one of them slit his neck before fleeing. The entire act of murder lasted less than 40 seconds. There were 60 gashes and stab wounds on his body when the post-mortem was done later in the evening.

Some hotel employees rushed to save Guruji but they were intimidated by the weapon-wielding assailants. "Property dispute and revenge appear to be the motive for the brutal murder carried out by people known to the victim," said Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Labhu Ram.

The police constituted five teams under the leadership of the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hubballi city, to enquire into incident. Two persons, stated to be the former employees of 'Sarala Vaastu' company, Mahantesh Shiroor and Manjunath have been arrested by the police.

Chandrashekar had business dealings and reportedly ran into financial crisis. According to sources, this had made him to claim some of the benami properties of his close associates, registered in his name. The financial crisis had also led him to remove 25 of his employees which might have triggered some antipathy against him, his family circles stated.