The city police on Thursday arrested six persons including the Vice Chancellor of Alliance University, in connection with the murder of former VC Ayyappa Dore, who was hacked to death by unknown assailants here on Tuesday night.

The City Police Commissioner said they have arrested Sudhir Angur, Vice Chancellor of Alliance University and his Associate Suraj Singh and four others.

It was a supari (contract) murder of Rs 1 crore, he said. "We found that the motive behind the murder was a dispute related to the ownership of Alliance University," he added.

Eight teams have been formed to investigate this case and further investigation is on, he said. Dr Ayappa Dore was hacked to death near his home on October 15 night while he was out for a walk.

Police said that the incident took place around 11 pm, when he had gone out for a walk after dinner. As he did not return for a long time, his family members went in search of him and found his body at HMT Ground, which is within 100 meters from his residence.

Bengaluru city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao, who visited the spot, said that special teams were formed to nab the killers an investigation has been initiated.

Sources said the Alliance University, which is located in Anekal on the outskirts of the city, had several disputes and this has emerged as the important angle of the probe.