Fan murder case: Darshan grilled by IT sleuths in Ballary prison

Ballary, (Karnataka) Sep 26 : Jailed Kannada superstar Darshan was grilled by Income Tax sleuths in connection with money transactions between the accused linked to the brutal murder of his fan Renukaswamy.

The IT sleuths grilled Darshan in the visitors’ room for more than three hours in the presence of Jail Superintendent R. Latha. The entire session was video recorded.

The sleuths questioned him about the seizure of Rs 70.4 lakh from his house and his aides and other accused in the Renukaswamy murder case. According to police, the investigators had seized Rs 37.4 lakh from Darshan’s residence and Rs 3 lakh from his wife Vijayalaxmi’s house in Bengaluru.

Darshan had allegedly given the money to his wife after the murder of Renukaswamy. Further, the actor has allegedly given Rs 5 lakh each to four accused persons to surrender before the police claiming responsibility for Renukaswamy's murder through his aides. He had also given Rs 30 lakh for his aides to manage the disposal of the body and for other expenses to hush up the case.

The IT sleuths had grilled him over the transactions and recorded his statement.

The Karnataka High Court will take up the hearing of bail plea on Darshan on Friday.

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 the morning of June 11. All the accused are currently in jail and are under judicial custody. After 102 days of arrest, Darshan had, on last Saturday, submitted a bail petition through his counsel at the sessions court. His counsel had also pleaded for an emergency hearing on the matter.