Bengaluru: Kannada actors, Darshan Thoogudeepa and his partner Pavithra Gowda, along with 10 others, were arrested Tuesday for their alleged role in the murder of a 33-year-old man.
The victim has been identified as Renukaswamy, who worked in a pharmacy in Chitradurga, about 200 kms from Bengaluru. According to the police’s investigation so far, the man had allegedly sent offensive messages to Pavithra on social media, upsetting Darshan. Renukaswamy was the only son of his parents and his wife is pregnant.
Picked up by the Bengaluru police Tuesday morning from a hotel in Mysuru, Darshan now faces charges of murder, along with Pavithra. They are the prime accused in the case.
A Bengaluru court sent them to six-day police custody Tuesday.
“In connection with the murder case registered in Kamakshipalya police Station, limit of Bengaluru west division, on 9th morning, one of the actors of Kannada film industry has been secured and is being questioned,” Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda told reporters Tuesday.
Darshan, 47, is one of the popular actors in the Kannada film industry and is the son of yesteryear star, Thoogudeepa Srinivas.
The case
At around 8 am on 9 June, a 27-year-old security guard was on duty at an apartment complex, when he noticed what appeared to be a dead body by the road. The police were called. According to the FIR registered the same day at Kamakshipalya in Bengaluru, the body had injury marks, including on the face and ears.
The police began the probe suspecting murder. According to the police, three people were initially picked up in connection with the murder, and further inquiry pointed to a thicker plot.
Police officials said that the three persons revealed the names of the actor and others involved. Evidence was collected by checking CCTV visuals.
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Fans association
One senior police officer said that Renukaswamy had allegedly sent offensive messages to Pavithra on a social media platform and that Darshan had tracked down the victim via his fans association. Darshan is said to have asked the state president of the association to track down the man.
Renukaswamy was traced down to Chitradurga, abducted at the behest of Darshan and brought to Bengaluru. He was assaulted in a shed in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar.
“They allegedly went and picked him up from Chitradurga, brought him to Bengaluru, kept him in a godown (shed) and assaulted him very badly. Darshan and Pavithra Gowda were there. After that, Darshan left and then this person died. After that, they (associates) allegedly dumped the body near Kamakshipalya, and after that, we (police) registered a case of murder,” the police officer said, requesting anonymity, since the investigation is still underway.
Renukaswamy’s body was dumped in Sumanahalli, about 10 kms from the alleged scene of the crime.
Darshan is popularly addressed as ‘D Boss’ by his fans. He commands considerable clout and had been one of the main crowd pullers during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign for former MP Sumalatha, the actor-wife of late actor, Ambareesh (M.H. Amarnath).
This is not the first time Darshan has run in with the law.
In 2011, Darshan was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife Vijayalakshmi, and spent time in jail before making a public apology.
In 2021, he was accused of assaulting a waiter in a hotel in Mysuru. There has also been at least one case of a producer filing a complaint of intimidation against Darshan.
In January last year, the forest department had raided his farm, where they had allegedly found four bar-headed geese, according to an Indian Express report. The actor was booked under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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