Africa-Press – South-Africa. Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) electrical engineering lecturer Shan Dwarika, 62, was found dead between bushes near Mafuya Road in Inanda, Durban, on Saturday afternoon.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said two men had been charged with murder.
“Two men who were arrested in connection with the kidnapping of a 61-year-old man have now been charged with murder following the recovery of his body [in] the bushes,” Netshiunda added.
Dwarika was last seen on Sunday, 28 May, and was reported missing.
Police said charges of kidnapping and carjacking were later registered following investigations.
“Further intensive investigation led to the arrests of two suspects, and on Saturday, a team of investigators followed investigative leads to Inanda where his body was found,” said Netshiunda.
According to police, a search for at least two more suspects who are believed to have also been involved in his kidnapping and subsequent murder is ongoing.
Professor Roger Coopoosamy told News24 he was “devastated” after hearing the news that his colleague and friend had been found dead.
A grief-stricken Coopoosamy said:
Dwarika was described as “a peace-loving man who ensured all his students had a meal before class.”
News24 previously reported Dwarika was busy with maintenance issues at a property that he rented out in Sea Cow Lake in Durban when he was allegedly abducted on Sunday afternoon. Video footage of the incident has since gone viral.
In the footage, three men can be seen having a heated conversation, pulling him into his Honda SUV, and speeding away.
Coopoosamy said he met Dwarika when he began lecturing at MUT in 2010.
“Even then, he was very inclined to green energy, natural sciences and engineering and using alternative energy sources. He wanted to make a PhD programme for that. We became buddies and spent time together on a regular basis. He would message me every morning.”
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Coopoosamy said Dwarika was highly spiritual and would often meditate and do yoga. He said he was caring toward his students.
He added: “Everything living was something to save for him. Even his students, he took them as his children. The first thing he wanted to know was if his students [had eaten], and if they hadn’t, he would give them food.”
Coopoosamy said Dwarika would only start his classes after students were fed.
“He would say he was developing people in the universe.”
Coopoosamy described their relationship as one with loving depth, adding that they had become like brothers.
He said the suspects must face the full might of the law.
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