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Journalism of Courage
This is an archive article published on December 13, 2024
Renukaswamy murder case: Karnataka HC grants bail to actor Darshan, Pavitra Gowda and 5 others
During bail arguments, the state special prosecutor stressed the murder of Renukaswamy was a case of violent killing. The counsel for Darshan Thoogudeepa argued evidence was "concocted".
Kannada film actor Darshan Thoogudeepa (right) was arrested on June 11 for allegedly killing Renukaswamy (left), a fan, for sending obscene messages to Pavithra Gowda. (Express File)
The Karnataka High Court Friday granted bail to Kannada film star Darshan Thoogudeepa, his close friend Pavitra Gowda, and five associates nearly six months after their arrest in connection with the murder of his fan Renukaswamy.
A single judge bench of Justice Vishwajith Shetty granted bail to Darshan Thoogudeepa, Pavitra Gowda, Pradoosh Rao, Jagadish alias Jaggu, Anu Kumar, Lakshman M, and Nagaraju K. The court had earlier reserved its judgment in the matter on December 9.
On October 30, Justice Shetty granted interim conditional bail for six weeks to Thoogudeepa for treatment of a back ailment. The interim bail was extended on December 9 to facilitate surgery.
In the course of the bail arguments, the state special prosecutor pointed to the severity and number of wounds inflicted on Renukaswamy to stress that it was a case of violent murder. The counsel for the actor, however, argued that the evidence in the case was “concocted”.
The popular actor was arrested on June 11 for his alleged role in the June 9 murder of Renukaswamy, who allegedly stalked and abused Pavitra Gowda on social media, in Bengaluru. The members of his gang, including Pavitra Gowda, were arrested after investigations revealed that the actor paid a few men for the murder.
In September, the Bengaluru police filed a 3,991-page chargesheet, naming Pavitra Gowda as accused number one and Darshan as accused number two. Besides Darshan and Gowda, the others named in the chargesheet are Pawan K, 29; Raghavendra, 43; Nandish, 28; Jagadish, 36; Anukumar, 25; Ravi Shankar, 32; Dhanraj D, 27; Vinay V, 38; Nagaraju, 41; Laxman, 54; Deepak, 39; Pradosh, 40; Karthik, 27; Keshavamurthy, 27; and Nikhil Nayak, 21.
The police said they based their charges against Darshan Thoogudeepa on the call detail records and DNA reports that established his presence at the crime scene.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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