Hours after Ayyappa R. Dore, former vice-chancellor of Alliance University, was found hacked to death near his house in R.T. Nagar, the police on Wednesday night arrested chancellor and co-founder of the university, Sudhir Angur, 57, and a university employee he had hired to carry out the murder.
Sudhir had allegedly also put out a contract on his younger brother, Madhukar Angur, whom he is at loggerheads with over the ownership of university.
The former VC was murdered on Tuesday night while he was taking a walk at the HMT Ground in R.T. Nagar. The police believe that Sudhir set the ball rolling at least four months ago.
Four others on the run
“He turned to his employee Suraj Singh, 27, whom he had recently hired as an executive officer in the administration division of the university and offered him ₹1 crore to eliminate Ayyappa and Mr. Madhukar,” said Bhaskar Rao, Police Commissioner. Four other accused, who were with Suraj when he attacked Ayyappa, are on the run.
The siblings have allegedly been feuding for years over the ownership of the university, and have as many as 25 civil dispute cases pending before various courts. Ayyappa sided with Mr. Madhukar who had approached the Registrar of Companies (RoC) seeking ownership of the university.
According to senior officials, Sudhir believed the RoC’s decision would favour his brother.
“Worried that he would not be able to claim ownership, Sudhir planned to eliminate both Ayyappa and Mr. Madhukar,” said a senior police official.
The official said that Ayyappa was close to Mr. Madhukar, and Sudhir was worried that he would use his local political connections to further his brother’s cause. Mr. Madhukar had also reportedly filed a complaint with the Higher Education Department seeking cancellation of the convocation ceremony of the Alliance University, which Sudhir had planned to hold on November 3. “This precipitated Sudhir’s plans to get rid of his brother,” said a senior police official.
The police have provided security to Mr. Madhukar. “I had a hunch that someone was following me. I discussed this with Ayyappa when I met him last Tuesday. His murder is unpardonable and Sudhir should be dealt with legally,” said Mr. Madhukar.
