Renukaswamy murder: Darshan Thoogudeepa gets judicial custody till July 4; second jail stint for Kannada superstar

Kannada superstar Darshan is headed to Parapana Agrahara. With the actor’s police custody in the Renukaswamy murder ending on July 4, he was sent to judicial custody until July 4. Darshan’s advocate is said to have urged the court to send the actor to the jail in Tumkur or elsewhere, which will be heard on Monday. Darshan and 3 others were earlier sent to custodial interrogation for a third time, as the police contended that they were not cooperating with the investigation and needed to be around for further processes.

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This is Darshan’s second stint at the Parapana Agrahara jail. He’d been imprisoned for 28 days way back in 2011, following a domestic abuse charge, after he’d assaulted his wife Vijayalakshmi.At the time, Darshan’s alleged closeness with a former co-star was cited as reason for the marital troubles. The couple supposedly ‘resolved’ their issues, and Vijayalakshmi withdrew the case.

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At the time, the buzz in industry circles was that Vijayalakshmi allegedly ‘forgave’ her husband and was ready for a fresh start because of immense pressure from ‘industry elders’. However, going by the timeline of Darshan’s relationship with Pavitra Gowda, only 3 years later, he had gone astray again. In the time since, Vijayalakshmi and Pavitra have exchanged online taunts, with the former urging the latter to butt out of her marriage.

The Kannada superstar was arrested on June 11 in the investigation into the Renukaswamy murder case. The deceased was a Chitradurga resident, and allegedly a Darshan fan, who is said to have sent derogatory messages to Pavitra. He was lured to Bengaluru and then subjected to barbaric torture at a vehicle dump yard, following which he succumbed to his injuries. While Darshan was present at the yard at some point during this torture, he claims he was not there when Renukaswamy died, but once apprised of the death, he is said to have paid Rs 30 lakh to some of the accused in the case to dispose of the body and take the blame.

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In fact, the Renukswamy case began as one of an unidentified dead body found in a storm water drain. Subsequently, 4 men ‘confessed’ to killing him in a dispute, but the inconsistencies in their stories led police to investigate further and uncover Darshan’s connection to the case.