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Murder conspiracy charges against Chatsworth family withdrawn
Post
|April 08, 2026
AFTER facing serious allegations of plotting a R100,000 hit on their spiritualist, Guru Ashley Padayachee, a Chatsworth family finds relief as charges are withdrawn.
SUHANNA Uthamlal, from left, Sohail Mohamed, Naresh Uthamlal, his wife Asha Uthamlal, and their son Saihil Uthamlal. | YOSHINI PERUMAL
(YOSHINI PERUMAL)
Naresh Uthamlal, 52, his wife Asha, 49, their son Saihil, 20, and their daughter's boyfriend, Sohail Mohamed, 22, were charged with conspiring to kill Padayachee, 30.
They appeared in the Durban Regional Court on Tuesday.
Magistrate P Botha told the family that the charges against them were withdrawn and that they were free to collect their bail money and leave.
Naresh, Asha, Saihil, Sohail and the couple's daughter Suhanna, 22, were arrested at their hardware store at the Crossmoor Shopping Centre on October 15, 2025.
Their attorney Priyanka Naicker said when they got to the Chatsworth police station, Suhanna was released and not charged. The four were granted bail of R3,000 each after spending 18 days in Westville Prison.
The alleged plot against Padayachee, head of the Shallcross Shree Kali Amman Kovil, was believed to have stemmed from a dispute over a house that Padayachee claimed the Uthamlal family had verbally gifted to him.
Speaking to POST after the case on Tuesday, Asha said after their arrest, they was shunned by relatives and the community.
She claimed that Padayachee had extorted money from her and her family, which led to their relationship turning sour.
“After a brief court appearance in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court last year, I was hospitalised and I was in a coma for nine days. After we were released on bail, we had to hang our heads in shame and walk in the community.
“People looked at us as if we were killers and bad people. We were named and shamed, and in the eyes of the community, we were guilty,” Asha said.
Naresh said the case against them had negatively impacted his businesses and his “good name” in the community.
This story is from the April 08, 2026 edition of Post.
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