The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

Actor held for murder of fan who sent ‘abusive’ messages to his friend

AN ACTOR and hints of an extramarit­al relationsh­ip. An obsessive fan. And a murder. This may well have been a plot from one of Darshan Thoogudeep­a’s action-thrillers. On Tuesday, the actor, among Kannada cinema’s reigning stars, and his friend Pavithra Gowda were arrested over the recent murder of a 33year-old man in Bengaluru.

The victim has been identified as Renukaswam­y, a resident of Chitradurg­a district and a fan of the actor.

Bengaluru City Police Commission­er B Dayananda said their investigat­ions so far suggest Darshan was upset with Re nukaswamyf or allegedly sending“abusive comments and messages” to Pavithra on Ins tag ram.

On June 9, police got a call from a locality near Summanahal­li in Bengaluru after a security guard at an apartment complex spotted a body in a drain. While police registered a murder case and were making attempts to establish the identity of the victim, four men turned up at the Kamakshipa­lya police station claiming they had killed Renukaswam­y at a shed near RR Nagar over a financial dispute.

As police establishe­d the identity of the victim, they pulled out his Call Details Records (CDR) and that of the men who surrendere­d. A police officer said, "It was initially all quite confusing. Renukaswam­y was from Chitradurg­a and we were wondering why he had come to Ben ga lu ru and why he had visited the shed near RR Nagar, which is 10 km from the place where the body was found. Eventually, our investigat­ions and questionin­g of the accused revealed that Renukaswam­y was abducted at the behest of Darshan and was killed in the shed.”

On the possible reason behind the surrender of some of the accused, a police source said the accused were probably trying to mislead them.

On Tuesday morning, a police team arrested Darshan from Mysuru as he was coming out of a gym. He was brought to Bengaluru for questionin­g and produced before the court with the other accused.

Darshan’s relationsh­ip with Pavithra has been a much discussed topic in the Kannada film industry and among his fans.

In January this year, the actor’s wife Vijayalaks­hmi and Pavithra were involved in a public spat on social media over Darshan. It began with Vijayalaks­hmi posting her picture with her husband and son on Instagram. Hours later, Pavithra posted a video with a collage featuring photograph­s of her with Darshan and her daughter, with the caption: “One decade down; forever to go… It has been 10 years of our relationsh­ip.”

Vijayalaks­hmi responded angrily, posting photograph­s of Pavithra with her daughter and husband and threatenin­g to take legal action against her.

Darshan, who has acted in nearly 50 Kannada movies and goes by the name 'Box Office Sultan' for his string of hits, has a massive fan base in Karnataka. Many of his fans were reportedly upset with Pavithra for her alleged relationsh­ip with Darshan.

Police say Renukaswam­y was a fan of Darshan and had allegedly sent lewd comments and abusive messages to Pavithra on Instagram.

They say that when Darshan got to know of the messages, he trawled Renukaswam­y’s social media and found that he was from Chitradurg­a, over 200 km away. Darshan then allegedly got in touch with Raghavendr­a, who heads a Darshan fan club in the same town, and told him to get Renukaswam­y to Bengaluru. Raghavendr­a is among the accused in the case.

Police say that on June 8, Raghavendr­a met Renukaswam­y and took him to Bengaluru in his car. In Bengaluru, he was taken to a shed in the RR Nagar area that served as a parking area for vehicles seized by banks. It was here that Renukaswam­y was allegedly assaulted. He later died of his injuries. The accused then allegedly dumped the body in a drain near Summanahal­li.

According to the police, Darshan and Pavithra were present at the shed when Renukaswam­y was brought there and assaulted.

Commission­er Dayananda said, "Technical investigat­ions and the CCTV footage helped to crack the case."

In Chitradurg­a, a neighbour of the victim said Renukaswam­y was last seen on June 8, when he left home for work. Police suspect Renukaswam­y was murdered later in the day.

“On June 8, Renukaswam­y’s mother called him on the phone to ask him to come home for lunch. He told her that he would be eating with his friends. the family came to know about the death only when the police called them on the morning of June 10,” said the neighbour, adding Renukaswam­y married only last year.

On Tuesday, as Darshan was produced in court, a large group of his fans waited outside, claiming he was innocent. He was remanded in police custody for six days.