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Darshan Thoogudeepa reportedly confessed to the police that he assaulted Renukaswamy before asking Pavithra Gowda to beat him with her footwear. According to the Kannada actor, Renukaswamy seemed beaten and tired when he arrived at the scene with Gowda. However, he further thrashed him.
A Bengaluru court on Monday, meanwhile, extended the judicial custody of Darshan Thoogudeepa, Pavithra Gowda and other accused in the Renukaswamy murder case till September 12. The Chitradurga native, 33, was abducted and tortured to death by a gang following Darshan's orders after he sent objectionable messages to Gowda via Instagram.
Darshan told the police that he hit Renukaswamy, a hardcore fan of his, on the chest, neck and head, News 18 said in a report quoting the chargesheet. The actor then asked Pavithra Gowda to hit him with her footwear, the report added.
The victim looked frail and tired when Darshan reached the shed on the outskirts of Bengaluru, where he was kept by his men. Bloodstains of the victim were found under the footwear of Gowda. A DNA test later proved it belonged to Renukaswamy.
All the 17 accused, including Darshan and Pavithra, were produced before the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court through video conferencing from various prisons across the state, where they are lodged, as their judicial custody ended today.
Police last week submitted to the court a 3,991-page preliminary chargesheet in the case.
Meanwhile, Darshan has filed a writ petition in the High Court, requesting a directive to restrain media outlets from broadcasting or publishing any details from the charge sheet.
The 47-year-old actor is currently lodged in Ballari prison. According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy died due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries.
What led to the abduction and murder of Renukaswamy?
A fan of the actor, Renukaswamy, sent obscene messages to Pavithra Gowda for her role in allegedly derailing the actor's family. A furious Gowda wanted Darshan to act, and upon his order, the actor's henchmen identified and abducted Renukaswamy.
Raghavendra, one of the accused and part of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R R Nagar on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and murdered.
