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A complaint has been lodged against the aides of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who was arrested along with 16 others in connection with Renukaswamy murder, for threatening the eye-witnesses in the case, police said in its remand note presented in a court in Bengaluru on Saturday.
After producing Darshan and three others before the court, the police stated that they were not making the names of the eyewitnesses public citing their safety.
'A complaint has been lodged against the aides of the accused number two (Darshan) for threatening the eye-witnesses of the case at the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police station,' the remand note said.
'Actress Pavithra Gowda(A1), Darshan(A2) and other accused involved in the case have been 'creating obstacles continuously' in the investigation of the case.'
In the court, police charged all the accused with trying to destroy the material evidences.
Regarding Renukaswamy's phone, police said, "The court is requested to grant permission to apply for Renukaswamy's SIM card from the service provider to 're-access' the data in the mobile phone, which the accused had thrown in the Sumanahalli Stormwater Drain to destroy the data."
The police also told the court that all the accused contacted each other through web application and destroyed data. Hence, they sought the permission of the court to get the fresh SIM card of the accused.
Opposing bail to the accused, the police said the actor could destroy the evidences for being influential, rich and having a large fan base.
The court remanded Darshan Thoogudeepa to judicial custody till July 4. His four alleged accomplices too were sent to judicial custody.
The actor was in the police custody since June 11.
The Special Public Prosecutor prayed the court for a direction to lodge the accused persons separately and in different jails across Karnataka, which was opposed by Darshan's lawyers.
Darshan and his aides were taken to the central prison at Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru.
A huge number of his fans gathered at the court and raised slogans in favour of Darshan. The actor too waved at the them from the caged police van.
Thirteen other accused, including the actor's friend Pavithra Gowda, were remanded to 14 days' judicial custody two days ago.
A total of 17 people are accused in the murder case.
According to police sources, Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Gowda, which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder.
Renukaswamy's body was found near a stormwater drain adjacent to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on June 9.
According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy's death was caused due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries sustained.
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Karnataka police to ask I-T to join probe over involvement of Rs 78 lakh
Meanwhile, the Karnataka police have decided to ask the Income Tax department to join the investigation into Renukaswamy murder case in view of the alleged involvement of about Rs 78 lakh in the execution of the crime.
According to police, Darshan and his gang have so far spent Rs 78 lakh to cover up the crime and destroy material evidences.
There is lot of money involved and we don't know how much money they would have raised through unfair means to get rid of this case. Hence, we have decided to include the I-T department in the case, a police officer said.
So far cash to the tune of Rs 70.4 lakh has been seized from the actor, while Rs 7.6 lakh is yet to be recovered.
During the investigation, police found Darshan's involvement and subsequently the entire case came out in open.
In his revised statement, Darshan admitted to obtaining Rs 40 lakh from his friend Mohan Raj for escaping from adverse legal actions against him and to cover up conspiracy and destruction of evidence, they said.