The Karnataka High Court on Friday granted bail to Kannada actors Darshan Thoogudeepa and Pavithra Gowda who are the prime accused in the Renukaswmy murder case.Justice S Vishwajith Shetty also granted bail to five other accused in the case.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. At the time, Senior Counsel CV Nagesh, who appeared for Darshan, had told the Court that the actor was being falsely implicated in the case and that the prosecution had "planted evidence" against him. Renukaswamy’s body was found near a stormwater drain close to an apartment complex in Sumanahalli, Bengaluru, on June 9. Seventeen people, including Thoogudeepa and his friend Pavithra Gowda, were arrested in connection with the murder case. It was alleged that the motive for the murder was stalking and abuse directed towards Gowda.