BENGALURU: The Vijaynagar sub-division police investigating the Renukaswamy murder case have arrested another accused, who had allegedly given electric shocks to the victim with a megger device. The police have reportedly recovered the device. With this arrest, the number of accused arrested in the case has gone up to 17.
Meanwhile, the police recorded the statement of actor Chikkanna, who reportedly attended a party at Stonny Brook pub from where actor Darshan allegedly went to the shed at Pattanagere in RR Nagar where Renukaswamy was murdered.
The police gave the name of the accused as Raju alias Dhanaraj, a dog breeder from RR Nagar. He worked at Darshan’s house and took care of his dogs. Raju is accused No 9 in the case and was absconding. He was arrested from his friend’s house in the city on Sunday.
V Vinay, accused No 10, who lived at Jayanna’s (shed owner) farmhouse at Pattanagere, had introduced Raju to Darshan. Among the accused, S Nandeesh of Krishnappa Layout in RR Nagar and Raju are alleged to have given electric shocks to Renukaswamy at the behest of Vinay.
During interrogation, none of the accused told the police about electric shocks given to the victim. This, however, came to light during postmortem. The accused are alleged to have given electric shocks to the private parts of the victim. The police are looking for the chair on which the victim was made to sit. Raju is said to have purchased the device online. He purchased it long ago and the police suspect that the device was used to give electric shocks to loan defaulters who were brought to the shed.
Special public prosecutor P Prasanna Kumar, while seeking police custody of the accused on Satrday, informed the court about electric shocks given to the victim.
Cops try to retrieve CCTV data
Police officers on Monday issued a notice to comedian Chikkanna and he appeared before them in the evening. He was taken to Stonny Brook pub along with Darshan, pub owner Vinay and other accused. Chikkanna is said to have been made a witness in the murder case.
After the spot mahazar, he was brought to the station for questioning. Before the murder, Darshan along with his friends, including Chikkanna and a producer, are said to have partied in the pub.
Meanwhile, the accused are alleged to have deleted the footage of CCTVs near the shed at Pattanagere and also at the pub. The police are trying to retrieve the deleted data.
7 had no contact with Darshan
Of the 17 accused, seven are said to have not met Darshan even once. Among the accused, V Karthik alias Kappe, R Keshavmurthy, both residents of Girinagar, and L Nikhil Nayak of BG Road were reportedly taken to Mysuru by Pavan to strike a deal to claim responsibility for the murder.
Victim’s phone yet to be traced
The police searched the Sumanahalli stormwater drain on Monday for the victim’s cell phone, which is crucial in the case. The phone was missing when the victim’s body was recovered 10 days ago. It was switched off on June 8 when he was kidnapped. The phone was switched on near the shed at Pattanagere for
a while and switched off.
