Court remands Darshan to judicial custody till July4

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: A court here on Saturday remanded Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa to judicial custody in the Renukaswamy murder case till July 4. His four alleged accomplices too were sent to judicial custody.

The actor was in the police custody since June 11. The Special Public Prosecutor prayed the court for a direction to lodge the accused persons separately and in different jails across Karnataka, which was opposed by Darshan's lawyers.

Darshan and his aides were taken to the central prison at Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru. A huge number of his fans gathered at the court and raised slogans in favour of Darshan. The actor too waved at the them from the caged police van.

Thirteen other accused, including the actor's friend Pavithra Gowda, were remanded to 14 days' judicial custody two days ago. A total of 17 people are accused in the murder case.

According to police sources, Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Gowda, which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder. Renukaswamy's body was found near a stormwater drain adjacent to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on June 9.

According to the postmortem report, Renukaswamy's death was caused due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries sustained.

Police to ask I-T department to join probe

The Karnataka police have decided to ask the Income Tax department to join the investigation into Renukaswamy murder case in view of huge money involved in execution of the crime.

Kannada actor Darshan, his friend Pavithra Gowda, and 15 others have been arrested for abducting and brutally torturing Renukaswamy of Chitradurga to death on June 8. According to police, Darshan and his gang have so far spent Rs 78 lakh to cover up the crime and destroy material evidences.

“There is lot of money involved and we don't know how much money they would have raised through unfair means to get rid of this case. Hence, we have decided to include the I-T department in the case,” a police officer said.

So far cash to the tune of Rs 70.4 lakh has been seized from the actor, while Rs 7.6 lakh is yet to be recovered. During the investigation, police found Darshan's involvement and subsequently the entire case came out in open.

In his revised statement, Darshan admitted to obtaining Rs 40 lakh from his friend Mohan Raj for escaping from adverse legal actions against him and to cover up conspiracy and destruction of evidence, they said.