Bengaluru: The Karnataka government said seven officials from Bengaluru’s central jail had been suspended and a high-level inquiry had been initiated after social media videos and pictures showed Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, the main accused in a murder case, receiving special treatment in prison.
In the videos and pictures that have been doing rounds of social media since Sunday evening, Darshan, lodged in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Jail, appears to be enjoying several facilities. In one picture, the actor is seen relaxing outdoors with other inmates, sipping coffee and smoking a cigarette. In another widely-shared video, Darshan is seen taking part in a video call with an aide, smiling and waving at the camera.
“Yesterday around 4.30 pm, I got the news on the developments in Parappana Agrahara. Darshan along with 3-4 others, was relaxing, drinking tea…the photos of this have become viral. I have spoken to the director general (prisons) and sent officials to the place for further investigation,” G. Parameshwara, Karnataka’s minister for home affairs, told reporters Monday.
He said that jailors Sharana Basappa Amingad and Prabhu S. Khandelwal, and five subordinates—Thippeswamy L.S., Srikant Talwar, Venkappa Korthi, Sampath Kumar Kadapati, and Basappa Teli—had been suspended.
Parameshwara said the government will take further action after the inquiry report. Meanwhile, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah directed officials to shift the accused in the case to different jails across the state.
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has taken the case of actor Darshan and others being given preferential treatment inside Parappana Agrahara Jail seriously and has directed that officials involved be suspended immediately. Darshan and others should be shifted to different jails. The CM has directed the DGP to visit the prison and submit a report on the incident,” the official account of CM Siddaramaiah said in a post on ‘X’.
ಪರಪ್ಪನ ಅಗ್ರಹಾರ ಜೈಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಟ ದರ್ಶನ್ ಮತ್ತಿತರರಿಗೆ ರಾಜಾತಿಥ್ಯ ಒದಗಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಪ್ರಕರಣವನ್ನು ಗಂಭೀರವಾಗಿ ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಿರುವ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ @siddaramaiah ಅವರು ತಪ್ಪಿತಸ್ಥ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕೂಡಲೇ ಅಮಾನತು ಮಾಡುವಂತೆ ಸೂಚಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ.
ದರ್ಶನ್ ಮತ್ತು ಇತರರನ್ನು ಕೂಡಲೇ ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಕಾರಾಗೃಹಗಳಿಗೆ ಸ್ಥಳಾಂತರ ಮಾಡುವಂತೆ ಹಾಗೂ…
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) August 26, 2024
Darshan, his rumoured partner Pavithra Gowda, and several other associates have been in jail for the last two months in the murder of 33-year-old Renukaswamy. They allegedly killed the pharmacy employee for sending “lewd messages” to Gowda on social media platform Instagram.
Shiva Gouda, Renukaswamy’s father, told reporters it did not look like Darshan had any “remorse” over the crime he had committed.
“I have faith in the police and justice system. But I am surprised at how this was allowed. This is very shocking news to us. I plead that the government investigate this and give appropriate directions,” he said.
Also Read: Hunt for Instagram user, cab to Bengaluru — how Kannada actor Darshan, aides ‘planned’ murder
‘Plea for home food’
In the second week of July, Darshan had approached the courts to allow him to receive protein-rich home-cooked meals in order to maintain his physique, claiming that he was experiencing digestive issues because of the food given to him in prison. The request was denied.
“This is the Darshan (view) of Congress governments VVIP mindset and corruption. A murder accused..high-profile case …there are pictures of him getting preferential treatment. Is this justice Rahul Gandhi? The poor person who was murdered, the tears have not stopped. They are probably thinking if this person (Darshan) was sent to jail or some resort by the Congress government,” Shehzad Poonawalla, a spokesperson for the BJP, told ANI Monday.
This is not the first such incident reported from Bengaluru’s central jail. In July 2017, CM Siddaramaiah (during his first term) had ordered a high-level inquiry into the alleged favours being extended to V. K. Sasikala, the former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam (AIADMK) leader, who had been jailed in a disproportionate assets case.
D. Roopa, the then deputy inspector-general (prisons), had accused jail authorities of allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from Sasikala to provide her with preferential treatment.
In her report, Roopa had alleged that during her visit to Parappana Agrahara, she found that Sasikala, who was serving a four-year sentence, had been given the provision of a separate kitchen and had met 28 visitors in 31 days between 16 February and 18 March 2017.
She also detailed other serious irregularities, including cases of drug abuse, unregulated movement of prisoners, and medical staff being assaulted by prisoners to get reports in their favour. The report also alleged that fake stamp paper kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi had other inmates at his disposal.
There have been similar allegations from other big prisons like Delhi’s Tihar Jail, where there have been reports of high-profile inmates, including politicians and gangsters, receiving ‘VIP treatment’.
In November 2022, a jail superintendent was suspended from Tihar after it was revealed that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Satyendar Jain had been given special treatment.
In April, former Delhi Police chief Neeraj Kumar, who served as director general (prisons), talking to a news agency said, VVIP inmates were a “big nuisance” for authorities.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
Also Read: Kannada actor Darshan, partner Pavithra held for alleged role in murder over ‘offensive messages’