Renukaswamy murder case: Actor Darshan sent to judicial custody till July 4

Actor Darshan was taken to a Bengaluru court on June 20. Pic/ PTI

Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and others have been sent to judicial custody till July 4 in connection with the Renukswamy murder case, reported PTI. The Bengaluru Economic Offences Special Court passed the order.

Following the order, actor Darshan and other accused were taken to Central Jail from the Sessions Court, reported PTI.

Actor Pavithra Gowda, a prime accused in case, had beaten up the victim with her slippers, said a remand note presented by the police in court on Friday.

The actress has been named as accused number one in the case, for allegedly being the instigator.

Police have seized the slipper, clothes, materials and other documents connected to actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, also accused in the murder, from Pavithra's house. Darshan has been named accused number two, who allegedly executed the murder.

As per the PTI report, Darshan's gang member Dhanaraj alias Raja, who is accused number nine in the case, had allegedly given Renukaswamy electric shocks. Police seized an 'Electric Shock Torch' from his house.

Darshan along with Gowda and 15 others have been arrested by the police in connection with the Renukaswamy murder case.

As part of the investigation, police sources said, they are contemplating on approaching social media giant Meta to retrieve data related to messages shared by Renukaswamy on his Instagram post, which has been deleted.

Darshan was taken into custody by the Bengaluru police on June 11. It is alleged that Renukaswamy, who worked with a pharmacy company and hailed from the district headquarters town of Chitradurga, had made derogatory comments against actress Pavithra Gowda, who is reportedly a friend of Darshan, in social media posts, the sources said. The actress is also detained by police for questioning.

According to the police, the victim, Renukaswamy, was murdered on June 8. A day later his body was found in a drain near Kamakshipalya. The victim was from Chitradurga, over 200 km from Karnataka's capital.

As per a report, Renukaswamy died due to the grievous injuries inflicted allegedly by the actor and his henchmen. Darshan had beaten him up as well. The victim had allegedly posted derogatory comments about Pavithra Gowda, known to be close to Darshan and sent the actress suggestive messages via Instagram which landed him in the situation.

Renukaswamy, who was a fan of Darshan, was abducted from Chitradurga on June 8 and was tortured to death allegedly by the actor and his aides.