Bangalore. Nine prison officials have been suspended for allegedly providing special facilities to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is in jail in the Renukaswami murder case. These officials include Chief Jail Superintendent V. Sheshamurthy and Jail Superintendent Mallikarjuna Swamy.
The action was taken on Monday after a picture of the actor smoking with a coffee mug in his hand at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison here went viral on social media on Sunday. In the picture, Darshan is seen sitting comfortably on a chair in a courtyard of the prison premises along with three others. Two of the three people accompanying him are alleged criminals.
Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara told reporters here on Monday that the other officials who have been suspended include jailers Sharan Basappa Aminagad and Prabhu S Khandelwal, assistant jailers L S Kuppeswamy, Srikant Talwar, head warders Venkatappa, Sampath Kumar and warder K. Basappa.
He said the new jail superintendent would be asked to deal strictly with such incidents of “negligence in duty”.
Parmeshwar said that soon after the matter came to his notice, he directed the Director General of Police to investigate, after which a team of senior police officers inspected the jail. Their investigation found the involvement of officers in providing special facilities to Darshan.
Additional Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services) Malini Krishnamurthy said three FIRs have been registered in connection with the use of mobile phones and cigarettes in the jail premises and smuggling of these items inside the jail. Krishnamurthy told reporters, “Darshan is a party in this. The FIR includes jail officials and those who used these items as accused. A senior Indian Police Service officer will investigate it.” Krishnamurthy said that based on the initial investigation, the incident took place on the evening of August 22.
He said it was a matter of concern that such incidents were taking place despite CCTV cameras and ‘jammers’ being installed in the state’s prisons.
A total of 17 people, including Darshan and his friend Pavithra Gowda, are in judicial custody in connection with the murder. According to police sources, the actor’s 33-year-old fan Renukaswamy had sent obscene messages to Gowda, which angered Darshan and he allegedly hatched a conspiracy to kill her. Her body was found near a drain in Sumanahalli here on June 9.
Raghavendra, one of the accused who was a part of Darshan’s ‘fan club’ in Chitradurga, brought Renukaswamy to RR Nagar here on the pretext of introducing him to the actor. There, Renukaswamy was allegedly tortured and killed. According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy, a resident of Chitradurga, died of bleeding as a result of multiple injuries. According to police sources, Gowda is accused number one in the case. Sources claimed that investigations have proved that he instigated the other accused, conspired with them and participated in the crime.