Bangalore. A Bengaluru court has extended the judicial custody of Kannada actor Darshan Thugudeepa, his friend Pavitra Gowda and other accused in the Renukaswami murder case till September 9. All 17 accused, including Darshan and Pavitra, were produced before the magistrate court via video conference from Bengaluru and Tumkuru jails after their judicial custody period ended on Wednesday. The judicial custody period has been extended after a remand application filed by the police.
The 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Bengaluru on Tuesday granted permission to transfer Darshan to Bellary Jail. Darshan is currently lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in Bengaluru. A photo of Darshan went viral on social media on Sunday, in which he is seen sitting on a chair in the prison premises with three others, including a habitual offender, and smoking with a coffee mug in his hand. There is a lot of controversy over this photo.
The court has also allowed the transfer of other co-accused in the murder case to various jails in the state. In the picture, Darshan is seen sitting comfortably on a chair and holding a cigarette and a coffee mug. Apart from this, an alleged video of Darshan talking to a person on a video call from jail has also surfaced on social media. Official sources said that Darshan will be transferred to Bellary jail, Pawan, Raghavendra and Nandish to Mysuru jail, Jagdish and Laxman to Shivamogga jail, Dhanraj to Dharwad jail, Vinay to Vijayapura jail, Nagaraj to Kalaburgi/Gulbarga jail and Pradosh to Belgaum jail.
He said that three accused – Pavithra Gowda, Anukumar and Deepak will be kept in Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in Bengaluru. Four other accused – Ravi, Karthik, Nikhil and Keshavamurthy were already transferred to Tumakuru Jail.
Following a preliminary inquiry into the ‘special facility’ given to Darshan, nine jail officials, including the chief superintendent of Parappana Agrahara jail, were suspended on Monday for their ‘lapses’. In addition, three FIRs were also registered against Darshan under relevant sections of the Prison Act and the Indian Penal Code (BNS) in this regard.