Was trio who came to police station to surrender 'paid' to take the blame for the murder?

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Shocking details have emerged in the Renukaswamy murder case allegedly involving popular Kannada actor Darshan Thogudeepa. According to sources, on the evening when the police recovered the body of Renukaswamy from a storm water drain, three people surrendered before the Kamakshipalya Police.

It is now being alleged that the trio were paid to surrender and not to mention Darshan's name. The 33-year-old victim, who hailed from Chitradurga, was tied up and beaten up with wooden sticks at a shed in Pattanagere in Bengaluru.

So far at least 13 accused including Darshan and actress Pavithra Gowda have been arrested by the Bengaluru police.

After medical tests on Tuesday, all the accused, Pavithra listed as A1 and Darshan as A2, were produced before the court, where a judge remanded them to police custody until June 17.

On June 9, the police received a call from a food delivery executive who spotted the human body in the drain being dragged by stray dogs.

According to sources, Darshan allegedly planted three men to take blame for the murder but they were exposed during the interrogation.

Raghavendra, Karthik and Keshava Murthy appeared at the police station at about 7 pm and surrendered before the cops claiming they murdered Renuka.

When investigated further they revealed that they were offered five lakhs if they take the blame for the murder and go to jail. Later the accused mentioned that it was on the request of Darshan that they brought Renuka as he was sending objectionable messages to Pavithra Gowda.

A rope was used to tie Renuka and then wooden sticks were used to beat and torture him. The victim, who was an employee of a pharma company in Chitradurga, was abducted by Darshan's aides and brought to the shed in Bengaluru after he allegedly made "derogatory" messages to Pavithra Gowda on her alleged affair with Darshan.

There he was brutally beaten up by Darshan and his aides as a result of which he succumbed to injuries. After the alleged killing, Renukaswamy's body was dumped in a stormwater drain near Kamakshipalya, police sources said.

"On the basis of CCTV footage and other technical evidence, the deceased was identified as Renukaswamy," Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said on Wednesday.