Actors Darshan, Pavithra Gowda and five others get regular bail in Renukaswamy murder case

A file photo of actor Darshan Toogudeepa .
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday (December 13, 2024) granted regular bail to seven accused persons, including actors Darshan and Pavithra Gowda in the Renukawamy kidnap, torture and murder case.

Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty passed the order while allowing the separate petitions filed by Darshan, Pavithra Gowda, Nagaraju R, Anu Kumar alias Anu, Lakshman M, Jagadeesh alias Jagga, and Pradoosh S. Rao.

The petitioner accused persons, who were among the 15 accused persons against whom charge sheet has been filed in the case, were denied bail by the trial court due to which they had knocked the doors of the High Court.

The High Court had on October 30 had granted interim bail to Darshan to undergo surgery for his back pain.

Renukaswamy, employed at a medical shop in Chitradurga, was reportedly kidnapped and murdered at a shed at Pattanagere in R.R. Nagar of Bengaluru on June 8. The crime came to light the next day, when a security guard of an apartment complex spotted the body near a storm water drain. The accused had allegedly kept him in the shed, tortured him and murdered him before attempting disposing of his body in a storm-water drain.

It was alleged by the prosecution that the victim had sent some obscene messages and photographs to Pavithra, whom the police had described in the charge sheet as live-in partner of Darshan.

Instead of lodging complaint against Renukaswamy for sending obscene message to her, Pavithra and other accused persons took law into their hands by kidnapping Renukaswamy from Chitraturga and tortured him at the shed in Bengaluru.

The accused had also allegedly tried to destroy the dead body of the victim. However, when the victim dead body was found near the storm water drain, Darshan had allegedly hired some persons by paying them money to falsely own up the crime in a bid to protect himself, Pavithra and his other close aides, the police had claimed in the charge sheet.