Under-Trial Prisoner Number 6016 Darshan Thoogudeep Moved to Security Barrack | Renukaswamy Case

Bengaluru:  Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeep, on Saturday, was moved from general barrack to security barrack for security reasons after a court remanded him to judicial custody till July 4 in the Renukaswamy murder case. Darshan, an under-trial prisoner lodged at Parappana Agrahara Jail in Bengaluru, was allotted 6106 as the prisoner number while the co-accused Raju alias Dhanraj, Vinay and Pradosh were allotted 6107, 6108 and 6109 numbers respectively by the jail authorities. 

The actor has been in the police custody since June 11. The Special Public Prosecutor prayed to the court for a direction to lodge the accused persons separately and in different jails across Karnataka, which was opposed by Darshan’s lawyers. A huge number of his fans gathered at the court and raised slogans in favour of Darshan. 

The actor too waved at 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 post-mortem report, Renukaswamy's death was caused due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries sustained. Besides, a complaint was lodged against the aides of Darshan for allegedly threatening the eye-witnesses in the case, police said in its remand note presented in a court here on Saturday. 

After producing Darshan and three others before the court, the police stated that they were not making the names of the eyewitnesses public citing their safety. "A complaint has been lodged against the aides of the accused number two (Darshan) for threatening the eye-witnesses of the case at the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police station,” the remand note said. “Actress Pavithra Gowda(A1), Darshan(A2) and other accused involved in the case have been ‘creating obstacles continuously’ in the investigation of the case.” 

In the court, police charged all the accused with trying to destroy the material evidence. Regarding Renukaswamy’s phone, police said, “The court is requested to grant permission to apply for Renukaswamy’s SIM card from the service provider to ‘re-access’ the data in the mobile phone, which the accused had thrown in the Sumanahalli Stormwater Drain to destroy the data.” 

The police also told the court that all the accused contacted each other through web applications and destroyed data. Hence, they sought the permission of the court to get the fresh SIM card of the accused.
Opposing bail to the accused, the police said the actor could destroy the evidence for being influential, rich and having a large fan base. Renukaswamy, a fan of Darshan, was abducted from Chitradurga on June 8 and was brutally tortured to death allegedly by the 47-year-old actor and his gang for sending lewd messages to the key accused of the case Pavithra Gowda. Police have so far arrested 17 people while the hunt is on for a few others involved in the crime. (with PTI inputs)