Family released on bail after allegedly plotting guru's murder for R100 000

A CHATSWORTH family have been granted bail after allegedly offering R100 000 to a former gang member to arrange the murder of a spiritual leader.

- YOSHINI PERUMAL

Guru Ashley Padayachee

The conspiracy, which stemmed from a property dispute, was exposed when the middleman approached police with details of the plot.

Naresh Uthamlal, his wife Asha, their son Saihil, and their daughter's boyfriend Sohail Mohamed, have been charged with conspiracy to commit the murder.

They were arrested after a former gang member from Crossmoor claimed they had approached him to orchestrate the killing of Guru Ashley Padayachee, head of the Shallcross Shree Kali Amman Kovil.

Their “issues” with Padayachee allegedly stemmed from a dispute over a house that the Uthamlal family had verbally gifted to him.

Naresh, Saihil and Mohamed were released on R3 000 bail in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

The bail application for Asha, who was hospitalised after she fell ill in court on October 17, had been separated from her co-accused due to her health.

She is currently in hospital under police guard, where she remains in an unresponsive state.

Her attorney, Priyanka Naicker, told the court she had a diabetes-related illness, and she was unconscious and unresponsive.