*Actor Enraged by Victim’s Derogatory Post About Girlfriend
Bengaluru : Kannada film star Darshan, his girlfriend Pavithra Gowda, and 11 others have been arrested for allegedly murdering S. Renukaswamy, a 33-year-old resident of Chitradurga. Renukaswamy had reportedly posted derogatory comments about Pavithra Gowda. His body was discovered in a drain in Bengaluru’s Kamakshipalya, about 200 km from Chitradurga, on Sunday morning. Investigations revealed that Renukaswamy, a pharmacy store employee and fan of Darshan, was tortured to death before his body was dumped. Police sources indicate that a social media comment against Pavithra, 37, angered her 47-year-old film star friend. Darshan allegedly orchestrated the kidnapping of Renukaswamy, who was then brought to Bengaluru by his aides. The actor and Pavithra were reportedly present during the fatal beating.
Darshan, who has had a troubled marriage and was previously arrested for attempting to murder his wife in 2011, was detained by police from a star hotel on MG Road, Mysore, around 8:30 AM on Tuesday and brought to Bengaluru. Pavithra, an actress turned boutique owner, claims she and Darshan have been together for over 10 years. All the accused have been remanded in police custody for six days, while authorities continue to search for four more suspect.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Pavan, who works at Darshan’s RR Nagar residence, created a fake Instagram account in Pavithra Gowda’s name and had been chatting with Swamy for the past two months. Pavan showed these messages to Darshan, who then shared them with Pavithra, according to the investigation. During one chat, Swamy revealed that he was from Chitradurga and shared his name. Upon learning this, Darshan instructed Raghvendra, President of the Akhila Karnataka Darshan Thoogudeepa Sena, to bring Swamy to Bengaluru.
Following Darshan’s instruction, Raghvendra and a few others abducted Swamy on Saturday morning while he was on his way to a pharmacy in Chitradurga. Swamy was forcibly taken to RR Nagar, bengaluru and locked in a shed in Pattanagere as per the plan. Raghvendra and others initially beat Swamy, and by evening, Darshan and his associates visited the shed for a second round of thrashing. Later in the evening, Pavithra Gowda also visited the shed, and yet another round of beating occurred. Swamy succumbed to the injuries on the spot, as reported by a senior police official.
Around 3:30 AM, some of the accused transported Swamy’s body in a Mahindra Scorpio and drove to a drain in Kamakshipalya, where they intended to dispose of the body. However, in their haste, they left the body by the side of the drain instead of throwing it in, a police officer stated.
