Four offered Rs 20 lakhs not to name Kannada actor, investigation reveals

BENGALURU: Investigations into the murder of KS Renukaswamy, 33, a Chitradurga pharmacy employee, during which actor Darshan and 12 others were arrested, revealed that the four accused, who had surrendered before the police, were offered Rs 20 lakh to ensure that the actor’s name did not appear in the case.

From Saturday evening until the body was thrown away next to the storm drain near Sumanahalli bridge in the wee hours of Sunday, Rs 10 lakh was paid to two of the four accused. The four accused agreed to confess that they had murdered Renukaswamy after accepting the money offered to them.

They worked for a company responsible for seizing the vehicles of people who defaulted on their payments. The company has taken on rent the land where Renukaswamy was murdered in a shed, police sources said.

Deepak, one of the accused, allegedly gave Rs 5 lakh each to Nikhil Naik and Keshavamurthy. As per the agreement, the remaining amount of Rs 10 lakh was to be paid to the family members of Karthik alias Kappe and Raghavendra after their incarceration.

The four accused allegedly had WhatsApp conversations with Darshan from Saturday evening until the body was disposed of. After their surrender, the police seized their cell phones. During interrogation, they revealed Darshan’s involvement in the murder. Police then checked the location of the tower and found the actor’s phone active near the crime scene, the sources said.

Number of accused in murder case reaches 17

The police gathered enough evidence before approaching the actor as they knew about his political connections as well as his huge fan base, the sources added.

Police had examined CCTV footage of Sattva Anugraha apartment complex near Sumanahalli Bridge and tracked the movement of a Scorpio SUV. After the accused surrendered, the police told them about the CCTV footage when it allegedly revealed the names of Darshan, his close acquaintance Pavithra Gowda and others.

The police are checking Deepak’s background. The sources said four other people were involved in the case. Thus, the number of accused in this case increased to 17. Among them, 13 were arrested. The four accused have been identified as Jagadish alias Jagga, Anu, Ravi and Raju, who are yet to be arrested.

On Wednesday, police resorted to a light lathi charge to disperse Darshan’s fans after they raised slogans in favor of him outside the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police station. Darshan didn’t sleep in the cell last night and looked worried. He had juice all Tuesday and would have had idlis on Wednesday morning.

The police took Darshan, Pavithra and other accused to the shed, where the victim was murdered, for a spot mahazar. City Police Commissioner B Dayananda visited the police station and reviewed the investigations conducted so far.

Did Darshan give money to the victim to return home?

After Renukaswamy was brought to the shed, Darshan and Pavithra allegedly went there and the latter hit him with her shoes. Darshan warned Renukaswamy not to send messages to Pavithra and allegedly gave him money to return to Chitradurga. After Darshan and Pavithra left the shed, the other accused allegedly continued torturing Renukaswamy. He died after one of the accused allegedly kicked him in the private parts. Darshan, who was informed about Renukaswamy’s death by his associates, allegedly lost his temper and attacked Pavithra, blaming her for the entire incident. Due to this, Pavithra was admitted to a private hospital and was discharged on Monday. Further investigations are underway.