Bengaluru: Facing flak over the video showing preferential treatment to actor Darshan in prison, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday directed authorities to transfer the accused actor and his associates to different jails.
Darshan is lodged in Bengaluru Central Prison with 13 accused persons in the case of kidnapping and murder. The 13 include his partner, the main accused Pavithra Gowda. Another four accused are lodged in Tumakuru district prison.
The official statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) stated that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has considered the case of giving luxury treatment to Darshan in the Bengaluru Central Prison seriously. He has directed the authorities to suspend the responsible officers immediately.
CM Siddaramaiah has also given directions to shift Darshan and his associates to different jails across the state. The CM has also directed the Karnataka DGP to visit the prison and submit a detailed report.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka prisons department has suspended seven staffers, including two jailers for allowing Kannada actor Darshan to smoke a cigarette and drink coffee inside the prison.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Home Minister G. Parameshwara announced this on Monday.
The photo of Darshan seated on a chair outside his barrack with a cigarette in one hand and a coffee mug in another had gone viral on Sunday. In the photo, Darshan's manager and other two jail inmates can also be seen sitting with him.
The development had stirred controversy in the state, raising questions about the functioning and rampant corruption in the prisons department.
Home Minister Parameshwara stated that following the incident, DG Prisons Malini Krishnamurthy immediately spoke to the officers concerned in the Bengaluru Central Prison and an enquiry was conducted till 1 a.m.
Following the preliminary investigation, seven officers attached to the Bengaluru Central Prison have been suspended with immediate effect. The jail superintendent will be transferred as soon as the report is submitted, he added.
If the involvement of senior officers is found, without any hesitation and mercy, action would be initiated against them, he stated.
Jailers Sharana Basava Ameenagada, Prabhu S. Khandelwal, Assistant Jailer L.S. Tippe Swamy and Srikanth Talwar, Head Warden Venkatappa Murthy, warden Basappa Teli and Head Warden Venkatappa Kattoli and Sampath Kumar Kadapatti have been suspended following the preliminary probe, Parameshwara stated.
“This is a lapse and it should not have taken place. As the matter surfaced, the officers concerned were suspended and action was taken. All prisons are sensitised, jammers and CCTV cameras are there. In spite of all this, the incident took place and swift action has been taken to avoid any such incident in the future,” the Home Minister said.
He added that no mercy would be shown to anyone involved in the incident and a probe was also on to find out who took the photo and how the person got a mobile phone inside prison.
The investigation will reveal everything, HM Parameshwara stated.
Raids were conducted two days ago by the police department in the central jail, however, no mobile phone was seized at that time.
"We will also investigate the matter and look whether the mobiles were hidden or sent out on a tip-off. We are checking the CCTV footage of the jail of the last three days," he stated.
When asked whether the government was under any pressure in the Darshan case, HM Parameshwara, said, "We will correct and tighten the system. There is no question of bowing down to any pressure," he reiterated.
He clarified that there was no question of weakening the case and action had been taken as per the law and the department would continue to take action in future as well.
“There is nothing to hide in the case, facts are facts. I will see to it that the incident is not repeated," he stated.
Darshan's video has shocked the family of Renukaswamy, a fan allegedly killed by the actor, his partner Pavithra Gowda and 15 others.
The case is in the final stage of submission of a charge sheet and the development is seen as a setback to Darshan who was hoping to apply for bail soon after the submission of the charge sheet.
The gruesome murder of Renukaswamy took place on June 8 in Bengaluru. He was kidnapped from his hometown, Chitradurga, brought to Bengaluru, kept in a shed, and tortured to death.
After the murder, his body was thrown into a canal. The incident came to light after the security personnel of a private apartment building saw the body being dragged by a pack of dogs.
Renukaswamy is survived by his parents, a pregnant wife and a sister.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)