Bengaluru court grants permission to actor Darshan for foreign travel
Bengaluru, May 30 (PTI): A Bengaluru trial court on Friday granted permission to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa to travel abroad for film shooting between July 1 and July 27.
The 57th City Civil and Sessions Court had earlier reserved its order on Wednesday.
Darshan, currently out on conditional bail, had approached the court under Section 439(1)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code, seeking approval to travel to Dubai and Europe.
The actor is the second accused in the murder case of his fan Renukaswamy, which allegedly involves his partner Pavithra and 15 others.
The Special Public Prosecutor strongly opposed the petition, arguing that if Darshan is allowed to leave the country, there is a serious risk he may not return, potentially derailing the trial proceedings.
Following his release on bail, Darshan resumed filming for his upcoming movie 'Devil'.
Although his movements were initially restricted to Bengaluru, he previously obtained court permission to travel within India. This latest plea sought an extension of those permissions to include international travel and the court allowed it on Friday.
Darshan, Pavithra, and others were arrested on June 11, 2024, for allegedly kidnapping and murdering Renukaswamy, a 33-year-old Darshan fan from Chitradurga.
The Karnataka police have challenged the bail granted to Darshan and others in the Supreme Court.
On January 24, 2025, the apex court issued notices to the actor, Pavithra, and five other co-accused, following a state government appeal. As per the bail conditions, Darshan is required to appear before the court every month.
Controversy continues to swirl around the actor, who previously skipped court proceedings citing severe back pain but was later spotted attending a movie premiere alongside actor Chikkanna, a key witness in the case.
On April 8, a Bengaluru court criticised Darshan for his absence, warning that no future excuses would be entertained.
On May 21, the Karnataka police submitted an additional charge sheet against the actor and other accused, further deepening the legal battle.
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Indigo flights chaos: SCR to run special trains to clear passenger rush
Hyderabad (PTI): The South Central Railway on Saturday announced that it would run four special trains to manage the surge in passengers resulting from the large-scale cancellation of IndiGo flights here.
The move comes as flyers face significant disruption and long queues at the airport due to the cancellation.
A press release from the SCR said it is running the special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers to Chennai, Mumbai and Shalimar (Kolkata) from Hyderabad today.
Meanwhile, as many as 43 outbound Indigo flights were cancelled from here on Saturday, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport sources said.
Similarly, 26 incoming flights are also likely to be cancelled during the day, they said.
The flight cancellations drew ire from passengers, who thronged the IndiGo counters at the airport demanding to know the exact situation.
“This is utter nonsense! Digiyatra done, message received that departure has been rescheduled ahead of the scheduled departure and now upon arriving at Hyderabad airport coming to know at the security checkpoint that Indigo flight is cancelled,” Tarun Singha, former Ministry of Defence spokesperson said in a post on X.
“But the thing is if you don’t shout they do nothing. Example at Hyderabad Airport, there was no staff no flight information for an hour. Then a fellow passenger started shouting on mic and an Indigo staff appeared finally,” a netizen said in a post.
On Friday, when IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights from across airports, its CEO Pieter Elbers apologised in a video message for the major inconvenience caused to passengers due to the disruptions.
In the one-way video communication, Elbers also said that the airline was expecting fewer than 1,000 flights on Saturday.
