The cancellation of Darshan Thoogudeepa’s bail in the Renukaswamy murder case by the Supreme Court Thursday came just a day before the release of the first song of the Kannada actor’s much-awaited movie The Devil.
The makers of the movie announced on August 10 that the song “Idre Nemdiyaag Irbek (if you live, live peacefully)” will be released at 10.05 am on Independence Day.
Thoogudeepa was arrested from Mysuru while shooting for The Devil on June 11, 2024, over his alleged role in the murder of a fan, Renukaswamy, who allegedly stalked and abused his close friend and actor Pavitra Gowda on social media. His associates and Gowda were arrested after investigations revealed that the actor allegedly paid a few men for the murder in Bengaluru.
In September, the Bengaluru police filed a 3,991-page chargesheet, naming Gowda as accused number one and Thoogudeepa as accused number two. Thoogudeepa was released from prison on October 30 on interim bail after spending 131 days in jail. On December 13, the Karnataka High Court granted regular bail to Thoogudeepa, Gowda, co-accused Pradoosh Rao, Jagadish alias Jaggu, Anu Kumar, Lakshman M, and Nagaraju K.
The Karnataka government then approached the Supreme Court challenging the bail. A Supreme Court bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan Thursday cancelled the bail, noting that the relief “suffers from serious legal infirmities.”
Shortly after the Supreme Court ordered the cancellation of bail, the Bengaluru police began preparing to contact seven accused, including Thoogudeepa and Gowda. A police officer said the accused must appear before either the police or the court, after which they will be taken to jail.
“Darshan Thoogudeepa will be sent to the Ballari jail, from where he had previously been released,” the officer added.
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After the Supreme Court judgment, the police arrived at the actor’s house in R R Nagar, but he was not present there.
Senior advocate Chidanand, representing the Karnataka government legal team, said the Supreme Court observed that no one is above the law and directed that a copy of the judgment be sent to other states as well.
“We informed the court about the two FIRs registered over special treatment in the jail. Also, we informed it about his movements after he was granted bail, which will influence the trial and witness,” he said.
A S Ponnanna, legal adviser to the chief minister, said he welcomes the Supreme Court judgment. “The state government challenged the bail order and also tried to convince the court of the influence that the accused can cause on the witnesses and the trial. We welcome the decision.”
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Renukaswamy’s father Kashinath Shivannagoudar expressed his relief after the Supreme Court order. “We were concerned when the Karnataka High Court granted bail, but the Supreme Court has shown that no one is above the law. We are relieved, and justice must prevail,” said Shivannagoudar.
After his release from prison, Thoogudeepa chose not to attend public events and instead visited many temples, particularly in South India. In June, he obtained permission from the court to travel to Rajasthan, Dubai, Europe, and Thailand to complete the shooting of The Devil, directed by Prakash Veer. He returned from Thailand on July 30.
According to sources, the movie’s shooting has been completed and is now in the post-production stage.
Renukaswamy murder chargesheet
The Bengaluru police in their chargesheet recorded statements of 97 people, including the 27 recorded before the magistrate under Section 164 (recording of confessions and statements) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), three eyewitnesses, eight FSL and Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) reports, 59 panchas and eight government officials (tehsildars, doctors, RTO officials and engineers). As many as 56 police officers were also included in the evidence list.
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Besides Thoogudeepa and Gowda, the others named in the chargesheet are Pawan K, 29; Raghavendra, 43; Nandish, 28; Jagadish, 36; Anukumar, 25; Ravi Shankar, 32; Dhanraj D, 27; Vinay V, 38; Nagaraju, 41; Laxman, 54; Deepak, 39; Pradosh, 40; Karthik, 27; Keshavamurthy, 27; and Nikhil Nayak, 21. Keshavamurthy was also involved in two criminal cases in the past.