Bhaskar Shetty murder case: Court awards life sentence to businessman’s wife, friend and son

By LE Desk

Udupi, June 9, 2021: The perpetrators of the infamous 2016 Bhaskar Reddy murder case in Karnataka’s Udupi were brought to justice after the court sentenced the businessman’s wife, his son and his wife’s friend to life imprisonment. 

The court convicted her friend who is also a priest-astrologer for aiding the two in the sensational murder in July 2016, The Financial Express reported.

Shetty, 50, was the owner of Durga International Hotel in Udupi. He also owned several properties in the region and seven supermarkets in Saudi Arabia. He was murdered at his home and the police had booked his wife Rajeshwari Shetty, now 54, son Navaneeth Shetty, now 26, and Rajeshwari’s friend and priest-astrologer Niranjan Bhat, now 30, in connection with the case.

Udupi Principal District and Sessions Judge J N Subramanya ordered life imprisonment to the three besides four years’ rigorous imprisonment for destroying evidence.

The murder took place just two-and-a-half months after Shetty returned to India from the Middle East to live with his wife and son. After he went missing on July 28, 2016, his mother filed a police complaint on July 29. He was last seen leaving his hotel Durga International. The police recovered his footwear from his house and later a CID probe was instituted. It found that the hotelier was murdered for his wealth and the body was burnt at Niranjan Bhat’s home. It was also said that Rajeshwari had an affair with Bhat.

The court acquitted Bhat’s driver who helped dispose of the remains after the body had been burnt because he didn’t know what the remains were. Bhaskar Shetty’s DNA later matched with some bones recovered from a river where the remains were disposed of.

According to reports, some witnesses told police that Navaneeth had hit his father at the hotel following a dispute over properties on July 9. Shetty had reportedly said that he would bequeath his entire property to an orphanage but won’t give it to his wife and son.

https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/bhaskar-shetty-murder-case-court-awards-life-sentence-to-businessmans-wife-friend-and-son/2268128/