Prosecution planted evidence against me: Darshan tells Karnataka High Court

Actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, accused in the Renukaswmy murder case, told the Karnataka High Court on Monday that all the evidence against him in the case had been “planted” by the prosecution..Appearing for Darshan, Senior Advocate CV Nagesh told Justice S Vishwajith Shetty that the police had not been able to explain the delays in recording witness statements, conducting the post-mortem and inquest, and in seizing materials from the alleged scene of the crime.Nagesh further countered the prosecution’s submission that Renukaswamy’s killing was a case of murder and not one of culpable homicide, and argued that the deceased had just one bleeding injury on his body.“All this talk about blood oozing out of the deceased’s testicles...there being blood on the clothes of all the 14 accused as if there was a blood fountain...it is all concocted. It is based on a doctor’s statement that was given to the IO two and a half months after the post-mortem was conducted. It is their imagination. This so-called evidence against me (Darshan) has been planted by the prosecution and I would like to conclude by saying that this evidence therefore, is insufficient to deny me the benefit of bail,” Nagesh said..Nagesh also denied the prosecution’s allegation that Darshan was misusing the Court’s sympathy.“Only the doctors can say when my surgery can be performed. I cannot force them to perform the surgery just because my interim bail period is ending,” the Senior Counsel said..The Court was hearing the arguments on the bail pleas filed by Darshan, his co-accused Pavithra Gowda, and others accused in the case.During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor P Prasanna Kumar had told the Court that Renukaswamy’s killing was a “clear case of Section 302 of the IPC (murder) and not a mere case of 304 (culpable homicide).” He submitted that the deceased had sustained “39 serious injuries” on his body, “17 fractures” on his ribs, and blood had been “oozing out of his testicles.”Kumar further opposed the bail applications filed by Darshan and the others and said that the prosecution’s case was based on solid evidence including “digital footprints, FSL reports and witness statements,” which placed Darshan and his co-accused at the site of the crime..Justice Shetty reserved his orders on the bail applications and said that the interim bail granted to Darshan to enable him to undergo a medical surgery will continue to be in effect until the Court pronounced its orders..The dead body of 33-year-old auto-driver Renukaswamy was found on June 9. It is alleged that he died owing to injuries sustained in an attack carried out on Darshan's instructions. The actor allegedly called upon his fans to accost and kidnap Renukaswamy for making derogatory comments against Pavithra Gowda on social media.Darshan was arrested on June 11 this year. On October 30, Justice Shetty had granted him interim bail for six weeks on medical grounds..Karnataka High Court grants interim bail for 6 weeks to actor Darshan to undergo surgery