Hyderabad: In a major relief to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, the prime accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, the Karnataka High Court on Friday granted him bail. Along with Darshan, all other accused in the case, including Pavitra Gowda, have also been granted bail.
Darshan is currently out on interim bail and is undergoing treatment at a Bengaluru hospital for back pain. Darshan was arrested on June 11 in Mysore by the Bengaluru police for allegedly murdering Renukaswamy, a 33-year-old fan of the actor, whose body was found in a drain near Sumanahalli in the Magadi Road area of Bengaluru. The police had registered a case against Darshan and his friends for ‘murdering’ Renukaswamy for sending obscene messages to Pavitra Gowda.
The police had said in its chargesheet that Darshan kidnapped Renukaswamy from his native place Chitradurga and took him to Bengaluru, where he was tortured for three days in a shed. The chargesheet states that Renukaswamy died after being unable to bear the torture and her body was later dumped in a drain as per the alleged instructions of Darshan.
After his arrest, Darshan was lodged in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara prison. But he was later shifted to Ballari prison after pictures of him and other inmates relaxing in the prison went viral.
On October 30, Darshan was granted interim bail by the High Court for 6 weeks to undergo spinal surgery. He has been in a Bengaluru hospital since then.
