Udupi: The district court has granted interim bail to Niranjan Bhat, an accused in the Bhaskar Shetty murder case so that he could perform the last rites of his father.

Hearing a plea filed by the accused’s counsel, the court granted Bhat interim bail on the condition that he shall execute a Rs 5 lakh bond and surrender himself before the court on or before July 7.

Niranjan’s father Srinivas Bhat passed away two days ago.

As per reports, Srinivas was mentally disturbed due to the happenings in the case. It may be recalled that the police had arrested him too in the murder case on charges of tampering with the evidence. He was released a month later.

Bhaskar Shetty, an NRI entrepreneur was allegedly murdered at his residence in Indrali on July 28, 2016 due to property dispute. His wife, Rajeshwari Shetty the main accused in the case has been released on bail. Navneet Shetty, son of the deceased and the second accused in the case is still in jail.

Bhat, an astrologer by profession is said to helped the accused in disposing the body of deceased Bhaskar Shetty by burning it in the pit used for Homa rituals. He too has been serving prison time since last four years.