Fan murder case: Court adjourns Darshan's bail plea till Sep 30

Bengaluru, Sep 27 (IANS) A city court here on Friday adjourned the bail petition of the jailed Kannada superstar Darshan till September 30 in the fan murder case.

The court passed the order after the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) submitted objections to the bail petition of Darshan.

However, the SPP said that he needed more time to submit objections against other accused in the case. Darshan, his partner Pavithra Gowda and 15 others are jailed in the case.

The counsel for Darshan will place his arguments on Monday seeking his bail.

Kannada actor Darshan, who was arrested in the murder case of his fan Renukaswamy and is presently lodged in Ballari district prison, has said in his bail petition that he is innocent and has been framed.

Darshan’s bail petition further said that he has been "fixed" in the case. "Barring the major injury on the head, no major injuries were found on the body of Renukaswamy. There is no clarity on his exact time of death. There are contradictions between the statements before the court and the medical reports. There is no evidence to prove that Darshan has committed the crime of murder. The authorities have created evidence against Darshan in the case, the bail petition states.

Further, the bail petition states that superstar Darshan has a fan following in Karnataka and other countries. The details of movable and immovable properties have also been mentioned in the petition.

Sources confirmed that arrangements are being made by his wife Vijayalaxmi to bring Darshan to Bengaluru from Ballary by helicopter if the court accepts his bail petition.

On June 9, Renukaswamy was abducted from Chitradurga and brought to Bengaluru, where he was confined in a shed at Pattanagere and brutally assaulted.

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. All the accused are currently in jail and are under judicial custody.

After 102 days of arrest, Darshan had, last Saturday, submitted a bail petition through his counsel at the court. His counsel had also pleaded for an emergency hearing on the matter.

Meanwhile, Darshan was grilled at the Ballary prison by Income Tax sleuths in connection with money transactions between the accused linked to the brutal murder of his fan Renukaswamy.

Darshan is also facing cases in connection with receiving royal treatment at the Central Prison in Bengaluru. Nine officers attached to the prison department were suspended and three FIRs were lodged against Darshan and others in the case.

Kannada actor Darshan admitted to assaulting Renukaswamy -- his fan allegedly killed by him and his aides for sending obscene messages to his partner Pavithra Gowda, but claimed that he was informed about the victim's death later, according to his 20-page statement mentioned in the charge sheet filed by the police probing the case.

In the 3,991-page charge sheet submitted to the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (ACMM) court on September 4, Darshan has provided graphic details of how he attacked Renukaswamy who was kidnapped and kept in captivity by his gang.

The charge sheet also revealed that Renukaswamy chatted with Pavithra Gowda by creating a fake ID on Instagram under the name Gowtham.

He also claimed that he was better than Darshan, the charge sheet stated.