Case Against Darshan's Aides For Threatening Murder Case Witnesses

A complaint has been lodged against the aides of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who was arrested along with 16 others in connection with Renuka Swamy's murder, for threatening the eye-witnesses in the case, police said in its remand note presented in a court here on Saturday.

After producing Darshan and three others before the court, the police stated that they were not making the names of the eyewitnesses public citing their safety.

"A complaint has been lodged against the aides of the accused number two (Darshan) for threatening the eye-witnesses of the case at the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police station,” the remand note said.

“Actress Pavithra Gowda(A1), Darshan(A2) and other accused involved in the case have been ‘creating obstacles continuously' in the investigation of the case.” In the court, police charged all the accused with trying to destroy the material evidences.

Regarding Renuka Swamy's phone, police said, "The court is requested to grant permission to apply for Renuka Swamy's SIM card from the service provider to ‘re-access' the data in the mobile phone, which the accused had thrown in the Sumanahalli Stormwater Drain to destroy the data.”

The police also told the court that all the accused contacted each other through web applications and destroyed data. Hence, they sought the permission of the court to get the fresh SIM card of the accused.

Opposing bail to the accused, the police said the actor could destroy the evidences since he is influential, rich and has a large fan base.

Renuka Swamy, a fan of Darshan, was kidnapped from Chitradurga on June 8 and brutally tortured to death allegedly by the 47-year-old actor and his aides for posting lewd comments on the key accused of the case, Pavithra Gowda.

Police have so far arrested 17 people while a hunt is on for a few others involved in the crime.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)