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The police found CCTV footage of Darshan Thoogudeepa and his girlfriend Pavitra Lal leaving the crime scene in a Thar.
Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa has been accused of murdering his own fan. He and co-star Pavitra Gowda were arrested in the murder case on June 11. The names of both came to light when during the investigation, CCTV footage showed Darshan and Pavitra leaving the crime scene.
Now a new revelation has come to light in this murder case. According to Bangalore Police, Kannada actor Darshan had offered Rs 15 lakh to his 3 associates to take responsibility for the murder.
Along with this, on Thursday, Bangalore Police has also arrested Darshan's close friend Nagaraj and co-star Pradosh. According to the police, Nagaraj was the one who was dealing between Darshan and other accused in this murder case. He looks after Darshan's farmhouse in Mysore. Pradosh was absconding since Darshan's arrest.
Popular filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has shared a social media post on this murder.
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 Bangalore police took both of them to the godown in Pattanavadagere, RR Nagar, where their fan Renukaswamy was murdered. Both were interrogated for hours at the crime scene. Police have told the accused that after kidnapping, fan Renukaswamy was beaten with belts and sticks. He was picked up and thrown against the wall. Renukaswamy was seriously injured in the assault that continued for about 1 hour and he died.
The police took actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and co-star Pavithra Gowda to the crime scene on Thursday.
This photo is from the time when actor Darshan Thoogudeepa was brought to the police station.
Renukaswamy's body was found on June 9, a day later a close aide of Darshan was arrested
Actually, on June 9, Renuka's body was found near an apartment in Kamakshipalya area. The security guard was the first to see it. Some dogs were dragging a dead body in the drain. The guard called the Kamakshipalya police station and informed about the incident. According to the police, the body was of Renuka Swami, who worked in a medical store.
Deceased Renukaswami.
During investigation, the police found out that the deceased Renuka was kidnapped by some people from Chitradurga area. The police suspected Raghu Darshan alias Raghavendra, the district president of actor Darshan's fan association, in this case. Therefore, Raghu was detained along with his two companions and interrogated, which revealed the whole case.
Raghuvendra garlanding Darshan Thoogudeepa.
How were the accused caught, actors and actresses seen near the crime scene in CCTV footage
Karnataka police officials quoted the accused as saying on June 11, 'Raghavendra kidnapped Renukaswami from Chitradurga area. Then he took her to the godown in Pattanavadagere, RR Nagar. Where she was beaten up, which led to her death. After this, Raghavendra threw Renuka's body in a drain in Kamakshipalya area. When the police investigated the area around the crime scene, they saw actor Darshan and actress Pavitra coming out of the crime scene in the CCTV footage. The mobile numbers of both were active in the same area from 11 pm to 3 am.
Darshan and Pavitra coming out of the crime scene in a red Thar.
Darshan and Pavitra were arrested after getting CCTV footage
Actor Darshan was arrested from his farmhouse in Mysore on Tuesday, June 11 in connection with Renukaswami's murder. The deceased's family alleges that he was murdered at the behest of Darshan.
Video of actress Pavitra during her arrest.
Police arrests Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa.
Why was the fan 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 Renuka started threatening him by sending objectionable messages. According to police sources, Pavitra provoked Darshan to kill Renuka. She asked him to punish her.
On January 24, Pavitra made the official announcement of the relationship.
Who is Darshan Thoogudeepa?
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.
Actor Darshan has been surrounded by many controversies
Darshan Thoogudeepa with wife Vijay Lakshmi.
- In 2011, Darshan's wife filed a complaint against him for domestic violence. He had to remain in police custody for 14 days. Later his wife withdrew the case. After the case came to light, Darshan publicly apologized to his fans.
- His film Saarthi, which was released right after the controversy, was a huge hit. After this, in the year 2016, his wife again filed a complaint with the Bangalore Police due to his bad behavior.
- In the year 2021, Darshan was accused of misbehaving with a waiter at a hotel in Mysore. Later, Darshan settled the matter by paying 50 thousand rupees to the waiter.
- In January 2023, the Forest Department raided Darshan's farmhouse in T. Narsipur. During this, 4 bar-headed ducks were seized from there, which Darshan had kept illegally.
- In January 2024, Kannada actress Pavitra Gowda shared a reel on social media, which gave a glimpse of the celebration on the completion of 10 years of her relationship with Darshan. It was only after this that Darshan's extra marital affair with actress Pavitra came into the limelight. His wife also threatened to take legal action against Pavitra.
- In the year 2022, Bharat, a well-known producer of Kannada industry, filed a complaint against Darshan. He alleged that Darshan was threatening him with dire consequences.