# Former panchayat chief murdered in Udupi over contract dispute: police 2026-08-10T05:50:28+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Udupi police on Saturday arrested three men for the August 7 murder of David D'Souza, former president of Mudarangadi Gram Panchayat. Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar said the killing was a supari (contract) hit linked to a ₹2-3 crore dispute over a contract with Udupi Power Corporation Ltd. One accused, Raju, has 26 prior cases across five states and reportedly received over ₹2 lakh to shoot D'Souza. CCTV footage shows one assailant approaching D'Souza from behind outside St. Francis Xavier Church in Pilar, hitting him and then shooting him at close range. The other two accused are Ajay Rastogi alias Anmol (eight cases in four states) and Ziaul Vazul Sheikh (12 cases including robbery and dacoity). Police said the trio were not well acquainted and used false names. Investigators are tracing the source of payment and the supplier of the motorcycle used. Borders were sealed after the murder, and over 500 personnel were deployed. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: contract killing, David D'Souza, Karnataka police, panchayat chief, Udupi murder, UPCL dispute Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/former-panchayat-chief-murdered-in-udupi-over-contract-dispute-police/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/former-panchayat-chief-murdered-in-udupi-over-contract-dispute-police/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.