Actor Darshan, “friend” Pavithra sent to 6-day police custody in murder case

News Network

June 11, 2024

Bengaluru: A court in Bengaluru has remanded Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, his long-time friend Pavithra Gowda and 11 others to six days of police custody in connection with the murder of a man from Chitradurga.

Darshan, 47, an A-lister of Kannada cinema, is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and murder of 33-year-old Renukaswamy, who allegedly posted lewd messages about Pavithra on Instagram.

A team of Kamakshipalya police from Bengaluru apprehended Darshan at the Radisson Blu Plaza hotel in Mysuru, his hometown, around 8:30 am on Tuesday. He was subsequently brought to Bengaluru and taken to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital for a medical examination.

By the evening, Darshan, Pavithra and the 11 other suspects were presented before the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court on Nrupathunga Road. The court granted the police's request to interrogate them in custody for six days.

Renukaswamy’s body was discovered in a drain near an apartment complex in northwestern Bengaluru's Sumanahalli on the morning of June 9. The following day, four suspects surrendered to the police, claiming they murdered Renukaswamy over a financial dispute.

Police sources told DH that Renukaswamy was brought from Chitradurga to Bengaluru on June 8, put up in a shed in RR Nagar owned by one of the suspects, and severely beaten. He sustained fatal injuries to his groin and at least 10 other places. His body was then transported approximately 12 km to Sumanahalli, in northwestern Bengaluru, and discarded in a drain.

As the police dug deeper, a larger conspiracy surrounding the murder was uncovered, leading to suspicion falling on Darshan, the sources explained.

"We have taken him (Darshan) into custody for the murder of a man named Renukaswamy. The case has been registered at the Kamakshipalya police station," S Girish, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), said.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Israel shifts forces deeper into Gaza, strikes hit families trapped inside

News Network

November 21,2025

Local authorities say the Israeli military has expanded the so-called “yellow line” truce demarcation in Gaza City and repositioned its forces deeper into the territory in violation of a ceasefire agreement that came into force on October 10, besieging dozens of Palestinian families.

Gaza’s Government Media Office announced in a statement on Thursday that Israeli forces widened the boundary by shifting the markers, and advanced roughly 300 meters (984 feet) into the neighborhoods of Ash-Shaaf, An-Nazzaz and Baghdad Street.

The move pushed further into civilian areas, trapping families who were unable to flee as tanks rolled forward, it added.

“The fate of many of these families remains unknown amidst the shelling that targeted the area,” the office said, adding that the expansion of the yellow line shows a “blatant disregard” for the ceasefire deal.

On Friday, sources said the Israeli military carried out continued air and artillery strikes inside the so-called “yellow line” east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to the reports, Israeli warplanes and tanks targeted areas within the zone. One Palestinian was reported killed and several others wounded in the strikes, the sources said.

The fresh aggression came only a day after 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis on Wednesday.

The media office reported that Israel has consistently violated the truce deal since its implementation last month, with near-daily attacks by air, artillery and direct shootings.

The office said over 400 violations have been documented. These breaches have resulted in the deaths of more than 300 Palestinians and left hundreds injured.

The Government Media Office in Gaza urged the guarantors of the ceasefire — the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey — to take swift action to halt the ongoing violations and facilitate the delivery of food, shelter materials, medical aid, and infrastructure equipment.

The so-called “yellow line,” set out in the agreement between Israel and Hamas resistance movement, refers to a non-physical partition where the Israeli military repositioned itself when the truce deal took effect.

It has allowed Israel, which routinely fires at Palestinians who approach the line, to retain control over more than half of the Gaza Strip.

International bodies, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and other rights groups, have concluded that the Israeli war on Gaza amounts to genocide.

In the attacks in Gaza since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 69,546 people and injured 170,833 others, leveling large swaths of the territory and displacing almost all of the population.

Comments