Bangalore. A city court on Thursday extended the judicial custody of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, his friend Pavitra Gowda and others accused in the Renukaswami murder case till July 18. All 17 accused, including Darshan and Pavitra, were produced before the magistrate through video conference from Bengaluru and Tumakuru jails as their judicial custody was ending today.
According to police sources, Renukaswamy, 33, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Gowda. Angered by this, Darshan killed Renukaswamy, whose body was found near a rain drain in Sumanahalli on June 9. Officials say that a person named Raghavendra, who was part of Darshan’s fan club in Chitradurga and one of the accused, brought Renukaswamy to a shed in RR Nagar here on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. He said that he was tortured and killed in this shed.