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Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa is currently behind bars on charges of murdering his fan. On June 11, he and his co-star Pavitra Gowda were arrested on charges of murder. The police became suspicious of Darshan and Pavitra when both were seen in CCTV footage leaving the crime scene.
47-year-old actor Darshan is a well-known face of Kannada cinema. He has worked in superhit Kannada films like Kariya, Kalasipalya, Gaja, Navagraha, Sarathi, Bulbul, Yajaman, Robert, Kaateera. He has also received the Best Actor award 9 times. In such a situation, it was not an easy task for the Karnataka Police to arrest him on murder charges.
Trying to mislead the police
According to the Times of India report, the case was brought to a conclusion by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) S. Girish. A senior IPS officer said, ‘If an excellent officer like S. Girish had not joined this case, the truth would never have come out. It takes courage to charge such a big film star with murder. Vijayanagar’s Assistant Commissioner of Police Chandan Kumar and Police Commissioner B. Dayanand also helped S. Girish in this entire case.’
Deceased Renukaswami.
According to a source, ‘You see the sequence of events. A person was murdered and four people went to the police station to confess their crime and surrendered. The station level officers believed their made-up story and there was talk of closing the case. Girish found something fishy. He read the statements of the four surrendered people, in which there was no consistency.’
This is how the police reached Vinay, a close aide of Darshan
After this, DCP Girish along with his team interrogated the four rigorously. It was revealed that they had nothing to do with the deceased Renuka Swami. They were given money to go to jail.
The next question that came to DCP Girish’s mind was who gave money to these four people? During interrogation, all four boys took the name of a restaurant owner Vinay V. The police caught Vinay without wasting any time and during interrogation it came to light that Vinay is close to actor Darshan.
Vinay revealed that he was asked by Darshan to kidnap and torture the deceased Renukaswamy. Vinay said that Renukaswamy was kidnapped and kept in a godown in RR Nagar. Vinay also said that Darshan was angry with some social media comments that Renukaswamy had made against Darshan’s girlfriend Pavitra Gowda. Vinay also named Pavitra among those who tortured Renukaswamy.
Darshan with Pavithra Gowda.
After this, the police also got hold of the CCTV footage in which Darshan was seen in his jeep near the place where Renukaswami’s body was dumped after killing her.
According to sources, ‘After getting such strong evidence against Darshan, all that was left was to arrest him. Everyone thought that due to his stardom and proximity to politicians, it would not be possible for the police to do so, but Girish proved everyone wrong.’
Darshan in police custody after arrest.
After his arrest, Darshan wanted to go to the police station in a car worth Rs 3 crore
ACP Chandan Kumar and his team raided the hotel in Mysore where Darshan was staying on June 11. Darshan was found in the hotel gym, where the police officer asked him to come with him.
Darshan’s Land Rover worth Rs 3 crore was parked in the hotel parking. Darshan told the police that you guys go in the jeep, I will reach the police station in my car. However, after arresting Darshan, the police brought him to Bangalore in a jeep. It was revealed on TV channels that Darshan has been arrested in the Renukaswamy murder case. After this, Pavitra was also arrested in this case.
On June 12, the police took him to the crime scene and interrogated him for hours
After the arrest of Darshan Thoogudeepa and Pavithra on June 11, on June 12, the Bengaluru police took both of them to the same godown in RR Nagar where their fan Renukaswamy was murdered. Both were interrogated for hours at the crime scene.
Police quoted the accused as saying that after kidnapping fan Renukaswamy, he was beaten with belts and sticks. He was picked up and thrown against the wall. Renukaswamy sustained serious injuries in the assault that continued for about an hour and he succumbed to his injuries.
The police took actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and co-star Pavithra Gowda to the crime scene on June 12.
Why was Renukaswami murdered?
The deceased Renukaswamy was a fan of actor Darshan. In January 2024, Kannada actress Pavitra Gowda celebrated her 10th anniversary with Darshan. This brought their relationship into controversy, as Darshan is already married.
Renukaswamy was very angry with this news. He was constantly messaging Pavitra and asking her to stay away from Darshan. Initially, Pavitra ignored his messages, but later Renukaswamy started threatening her by sending objectionable messages. According to police sources, Pavitra provoked Darshan to kill Renuka. She asked him to punish him. Bangalore Police had also revealed that Darshan had offered Rs 15 lakh to his 3 companions to take responsibility for the murder.