Two days after visuals of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa receiving luxury treatment inside Bengaluru Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara went viral, a city court granted permission to transfer him to Ballari jail. The actor is currently in judicial custody in connection with a murder case.
Along with Darshan, nine others involved in the murder of 33-year-old Renukaswamy will be transferred to different jails across the state. The main accused, Pavithra Gowda, along with two others, will remain in Bengaluru Central Prison. Four others have already been moved to Tumakuru prison. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had hinted that Darshan would be transferred to Ballari jail.
Earlier in the day, the top prison brass had moved the court requesting to permit them to shift some of the accused involved in the chemist's murder.The Bengaluru Prison officials will shift the accused to the other jails after receiving the court order. The photographs of Darshan hanging out with notorious rowdy sheeters Wilson Garden Naga and Kulla Seena along with his manager Nagaraj on the lawn of the jail had sparked a row after it went viral on Sunday.
In the picture, the actor is seen in a relaxed mood, sitting on a chair and holding a cigarette and a coffee mug.
Also, a purported video of Darshan speaking to a person over a video call from the prison too had surfaced on social media.
Nine police officers, including the chief superintendent of Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara, were suspended over the incident.
Of the accused, Jagadish alias Jagga and M Lakshman will be shifted to Shivamogga jail, Stony Brook owner V Vinay to Vijayapura prison, K Pawan alias Puttaswamy, N Raghavendra and S Nandish to Mysuru Prisons, Dhanaraj alias Raju to Dharwad prison, Darshan's assistant Nagaraju to Kalaburagi prison and S Pradush to Belagavi prison. Pavithra Gowda, Anu Kumar and M Deepak, will remain in Bengaluru Prisons. It may be recalled that Ravi Shankar, Karthik alias Kappe, Keshavmurthy and L Nikhil Nayak have already been shifted to the Tumakuru prisons.
City Police Commissioner B Dayananda, speaking to reporters on Tuesday said a request has been made to the Prison Department officials to shift some inmates including those who were involved in the recent incident from the Bengaluru Central Prison, as there are chances that they are involved in illegal activities inside the jail . Of them, eight have been booked under Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act, 2000 (KCOCA). He further added that permission from the court is mandatory to shift the accused from jail to the other.
