Karnataka Police on Wednesday filed a charge sheet against Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and 16 other people in connection with the murder of his fan Renukaswamy, listing the actor’s friend Pavitra Gowda as the main accused in the sensational case.
The 3,991-page charge sheet submitted in a Bengaluru court listed Darshan as the second accused and documented forensic and technical evidence against the two, including the recording of the “obscene” message send by Renukaswamy to Pavithra on social media, a police officer aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity.
Police say Darshan and his associates killed Renukaswamy on June 8 after the latter began trolling Gowda and posting derogatory messages on her social media profiles. Darshan was arrested on June 11 but a row broke out last week after a picture showed him purportedly relaxing with beverages and a cigarette in the garden area of the jail, causing him to be shifted.
“The charge sheet has been submitted with technical, circumstantial, scientific, and other evidence. All the reports have been received from the FSL in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Some reports from the CFL are awaited and would be submitted to the court at a later stage,” said Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda.
An interim ex-parte order by a Bengaluru court in the case restrains media outlets from publishing or reporting about the ongoing investigation. HT is in the process of challenging the injunction.
{{/usCountry}}An interim ex-parte order by a Bengaluru court in the case restrains media outlets from publishing or reporting about the ongoing investigation. HT is in the process of challenging the injunction.
{{/usCountry}}Darshan has denied his involvement in the murder, saying that he left before any assault on Renukaswamy.
In the charge sheet, the police alleged Renukaswamy was harassing Gowda with lewd messages and photos, believing she was responsible for the actor’s marital problems.
“Renukaswamy’s phone was missing and we obtained a duplicate SIM card to access his social media accounts. This helped them uncover the online harassment of Pavithra Gowda,” an officer quoting the charge sheet said.
The officer said Renukaswamy allegedly sent an obscene picture to Gowda, after which she informed Darshan’s associate, Pavan, in May.
Despite her instructions, Pavan informed Darshan about the obscene picture, after which Darshan allegedly tasked Pavan with identifying the sender, the officer cited above said, quoting the charge sheet.
Pavan, posing as Gowda, allegedly gathered information about Renukaswamy and his movements. He, along with Raghavendra who headed Darshan’s Fan Club in Chitradurga, allegedly abducted Renukaswamy, promising a meeting with Darshan, and a selfie with him.
The accused then allegedly forced Renukaswamy to board an auto and later forcibly took him in a car to a shed in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar locality in Bengaluru, the officer cited above added.
Darshan came to the shed with Gowda, and allegedly assaulted Renukaswamy for hours, giving him electric shocks to his genitals. He was also allegedly flung against trucks parked in the shed and kicked around, the charge sheet said, adding that he was tortured through the night.
Also Read: Kannada actor Darshan shifted to Ballari jail amid tight security
After his death, police said, the accused disposed Renukaswamy’s body with his phone in a canal.
“As Renukaswamy succumbed to his injuries, Darshan planned to make four persons surrender to the police claiming that they hacked Renukaswamy to death over a financial matter. However, the police officers managed to crack the case on the basis of scientific evidence,” the police commissioner said.
The police listed 231 witnesses, the baton allegedly used to beat Renukaswamy, and CCTV footage of the shed where he was allegedly kept, as crucial evidence.
“We also have photographs of Darshan entering the crime scene and leaving in a black Scorpio car driven by Nandish Nagaraj. These images, captured by CCTV cameras, are pivotal in placing Darshan at the scene of the crime,” the officer cited above said.
Renukaswamy, a pharmacy worker and sole breadwinner for his family, left behind a pregnant wife. “I heard through news channels that a charge sheet has been filed against Darshan and others. I hope justice will be done with my son,” his father Kashinatha Shivanagoudara told reporters.