Court reserves order on Kannada star Darshan’s bail plea in fan’s murder case to Oct 14

Bengaluru, Oct 10 : A court in Karnataka reserved its order on the bail plea of Kannada superstar Darshan, an accused in a murder case, to October 14.

The order on the bail plea of the prime accused in the case, his partner Pavithra Gowda will also be pronounced on the same day.

Senior counsel C.V. Nagesh appeared for Dashan and Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Prasanna Kumar representing the prosecution completed their arguments and counter-arguments in the case.

The judge reserved the matter for passing the orders.

C.V. Nagesh, the Counsel for Darshan stated that the eyewitness in the fan’s murder case had been planted by the police.

He said the tower locations and the IP address of the accused persons could be tampered with and there is no sanctity attached to them as the tower location covers a 25-mile area.

The scene of the crime and residences of Darshan and other accused in the case are in the vicinity.

“I am not placing the arguments for acquittal of the accused Darshan. I am placing arguments to get bail for him in the case,” the counsel underlined.

He claimed that the investigation in the case was improper and suspicious and the court’s decision should not be made on the basis of tower locations.

He alleged that Darshan did not know about the deceased fan Renukaswamy till June 5 as Pavithra Gowda was not talking to him then as he had taken his wife on a trip to a foreign country.

“When Pavithra Gowda was not talking to Darshan, how could he know about Renukaswamy?” Counsel Nagesh submitted.

On Wednesday, SPP Prasanna Kumar, while presenting the counter-arguments regarding the delay in recording of statements, submitted that 76-79 witnesses worked at the shed and their mobile tower location and call details along with that of the accused were tracked to the shed in Pattanagere where the crime was committed.

The accused Darshan and Pavithra Gowda had come to the shed in a black Scorpio.

Darshan in a statement confessed that he had kicked his fan Renukaswamy in the chest and the private parts.

Taking objection to the argument that the accused were associates of Darshan and the call details should not be considered as evidence, the SPP stated that the Supreme Court has mentioned the significance of the call records and they can't be undermined.

Renukaswamy was murdered, and his body was dumped in a drain at Sumanahalli.

In connection with this case, 17 people, including Darshan and his partner Pavithra Gowda, were arrested on June 11.

The 3,991-page charge sheet, submitted to the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court on September 4, has provided graphic details on how Darshan attacked Renukaswamy who was allegedly kidnapped and kept in captivity by the actor's associates, leading to his death.