Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa was taken into custody in connection with a murder case on Tuesday, June 11. The actor was picked up from a hotel in Mysore and shifted to Bengaluru by the jurisdictional police.
The Bengaluru police were investigating the murder of Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, who was allegedly tortured and murdered for harassing Pavithra Gowda, a close friend of Mr Darshan, online.
The police took Darshan into custody after nine people were detained for questioning in connection with the murder, including him. He was brought to the city in a police vehicle and questioned for several hours, after which he was taken to Bowring Hospital for a medical examination.
After seven hours of intense interrogation, the Kamakshipalya police produced Darshan and his associates before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court, following which they were taken into six-day police custody for further investigation.
The victim, Renukaswamy, was a resident of Chitradurga. | Photo courtesy: Special arrangement
The police, while submitting the remand application, requested the court that Darshan, Pavitra and others are required for spot mahajar and their call record details should be confirmed. Considering the application, the court ordered a week’s police custody.
Darshan and his 12 associates are accused of abducting Renukaswami, 33, from Chitradurga, taking her to a plot in Pattanagere owned by Vinay’s uncle Jayanna and torturing her, leading to her death, and dumping her body in a drain in Kamakshipalya on June 8.
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The accused have been identified as Vinay V, the hotel owner and a close friend of Darshan and nephew of Pattanagere Jayaram, whose plot was allegedly used for the torture and murder of Renukaswamy, Nagaraju R, Darshan’s friend and the prime accused in the torture and murder, Lakshman M, Pradosh S, Pawan K, Pavithra Gowda and Darshan’s close friend, Deepak Kumar M, Nandish, Karthik Keshavamurthy, Nikhil Nayak and Raghavendra, president of Darshan Fans Association in Chitradurga, who allegedly traced Renukamurthy and handed her over to the accused based on the instruction of Darshan and others.
The next day a food delivery employee saw the body floating and stray dogs roaming around it and informed the police. The police arrived at the spot and found that there were multiple injuries on the body and concluded that it was a case of murder.
Based on evidence, the police identified the deceased Renukaswamy, a resident of Chitradurga’s Lakshmi Venkateswara Layout and working in a medical store, who had allegedly commented on Pavitra Gowda’s social media account and accused her of creating a rift between his favourite film star and his wife. Renukaswamy allegedly used abusive comments, which angered Pavitra.
She allegedly sought his help to teach the accused a lesson. As per the plan, the accused roped in Raghavendra, president of Darshan fans association in Chitradurga, to trace Renukaswamy. Raghavendra traced Renukaswamy and handed her over to the accused.
Policemen deployed around Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa’s residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bengaluru on June 11, 2024. | Photo credit: Murali Kumar. K
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The accused, who were allegedly in an inebriated condition, took her to the five-acre plot of the accused’s uncle, which was rented out to a private company to park seized vehicles. The accused allegedly tortured and thrashed Renukaswamy, leading to her death.
The police suspect that Darshan had visited the plot and questioned Renukaswamy about the post and allegedly assaulted her. However, in custody, Darshan said he had nothing to do with the incident, sources said.
In the initial phase of the investigation, four accused appeared before the police and reportedly confessed that they had killed Renukaswamy due to a financial dispute. “However, detailed investigation by the police revealed a larger conspiracy,” a police officer said.
The FSL team visited the spot and collected all evidence to confirm the evidence. The police have recovered CCTV footage, call record details, a cargo vehicle and an SUV that was allegedly used by the accused to carry the body.
As soon as the news of Darshan’s arrest spread, hundreds of his fans and curious onlookers gathered outside the Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police Station to catch a glimpse of Darshan and Pavithra Gowda, who were being questioned by the police. The fans raised slogans in support of the actor and the police had to provide a security cover to maintain law and order.
Soon after Darshan’s arrest, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was informed about the arrest by the Director General and Inspector General of Police in a routine briefing.
Darshan was arrested in 2011 after his wife filed a domestic violence complaint against him. He was also booked along with other actors under the Excise and Karnataka Police Act by the Subrahmanyanagar police station in January 2024 for allegedly partying at bars beyond the permissible time and causing inconvenience to residents. The forest department had last year raided the residences of Darshan and actor Jaggesh, actor-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy and filmmaker ‘Rockline’ Venkatesh for tiger claw pendants they have been photographed wearing at different times.
