Bengaluru court extends judicial custody of Darshan & other accused till September 9
Bengaluru (PTI): A court here on Wednesday extended till September nine the judicial custody of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa along with his friend Pavithra Gowda and others, who are accused in the Renukaswamy murder case.
All the 17 accused, including Darshan and Pavithra, were produced before the magistrate court through video conferencing from Bengaluru and Tumakuru prisons, where they are lodged, as their judicial custody ended today.
The extension of judicial custody follows a remand application filed by the Police.
The 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on Tuesday granted permission to shift Darshan, who is currently in judicial custody at Parappana Agrahara Central jail here, to a jail in Ballari. after a photograph of him hanging out with three others, including a rowdy-sheeter, on the lawns of the jail had gone viral on Sunday, sparking an uproar.
The court has also permitted shifting of other co-accused in the murder case to various prisons in the state.
In the picture, the actor is seen in a relaxed mood, sitting on a chair and holding a cigarette and a coffee mug. Also, a purported video of Darshan speaking to a person over a video call from the prison too had surfaced on social media.
Other accused -- Pawan, Raghavendra and Nandish -- will be shifted to Mysuru Jail, Jagadish and Lakshmana to Shivamogga Jail, Dhanraj to Dharwad Jail, Vinay to Vijayapura Jail, Nagaraj to Kalaburagi/Gulbarga Jail, and Pradosh to Belagavi Jail, official sources said.
Three accused -' Pavithra Gowda, Anukumar, and Deepak -- will continue to remain at Parappana Agrahara Central Jail here. Four accused -- Ravi, Karthik, Nikhil and Keshavamurthy -- were earlier shifted to Tumakuru prison.
Nine prison officials, including the Chief Superintendent of the Parappana Agrahara jail, were suspended on Monday over their "lapses" after a preliminary probe into "special treatment" to Darshan.
Also, three FIRs were registered, including against Darshan, under sections of the Prisons Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to police sources, 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Gowda, which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder. His body was found near a stormwater drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on June nine.
Raghavendra, one of the accused who is part of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R R Nagar here, on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and murdered.
According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy, a native of Chitradurga, died due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries.
Police sources said Pavithra, who is accused number one, was the "major cause" for Renukaswamy’s murder, claiming that it has been proved from the probe that she instigated other accused, conspired with them, and took part in the crime.
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Maharashtra Congress chief Patole meets Kharge, dismisses resignation talk as 'rumours'
New Delhi, Nov 25: Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday dismissed as "rumours" talk of his resignation following the assembly polls debacle and stressed on "collective accountability" for the defeat.
Patole made the remarks after meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during which he conveyed that the result had not reflected the sentiments of the people of Maharashtra.
"Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other national and state leaders were leading Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) from the forefront during the assembly polls. So, we were sure that the trends were in favour of Maha Vikas Aghadi, even the citizens believed that," the Maharashtra Congress chief said.
"If I talk about Nanded, the Lok Sabha bypolls and assembly elections were held on the same day. In Lok Sabha bypolls, our candidate was winning in six assembly seats, whereas, in the assembly elections, we are not winning even a single seat," he said, adding that there cannot be such a "huge difference".
This is the sentiment among the people also and they have stated that this government in Maharashtra was not being formed on their votes, he claimed.
"So, I spoke to Mallikarjun Kharge on this," he added.
Asked whether he had offered to resign or the party had asked for his resignation after the Maharashtra assembly polls defeat, Patole said, "These are all rumours and there is no truth in them. There is collective accountability."
Patole also said he will meet Rahul Gandhi in a day or two and discuss all issues.
"Democracy is being finished. We have discussed that... there was no talk of resignation," he said.
The MVA alliance, comprising the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT), was restrained to 46 seats by the Mahayuti that reaped a rich harvest of 230 seats in the 288-member House.
