Hours after Darshan's arrest, Bengaluru police also detained Kannada actor and Darshan's close friend, Pavithra Gowda.
After Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa's arrest on June 11 in a murder case, Bengaluru police arrested the actor's long-time partner, Pavithra Gowda in Mysore in connection to the same case. Darshan was detained from his farmhouse in Mysore for the alleged murder of a man named, Renuka Swamy.
As per reports, Renuka Swamy, who hailed from Chitradurga, was murdered on June 8. His body was recovered in a drain near Kamakshipalya, Bengaluru on June 9. Renuka was allegedly murdered for harassing Pavithra Gowda online. The police said that Swamy had sent vulgar messages to the actress. As per a report in Hindu, Renuka Swamy was called to Darshan's Mysuru farm where the actor allegedly tortured and killed him before dumping the body in a drain in Kamakshipalya two months ago.
Renuka Swamy was an assistant in a medical shop at Chitadurga, as per reports.
The initial police investigation led to a missing person’s complaint registered in Chitradurga. During the probe, three persons surrendered committing the murder of Swamy due to financial issue. The further probe led them to Darshan who was finally detained in the case.
After the arrest, Darshan was taken to the Kamakshipalya police station in Bengaluru for further investigation.
Darshan is married to Vijayalakshmi. They tied the knot in 2003 and both have a son named Vineesh. In January this year, Pavithra shared a video on her Instagram handle where she confirmed her relationship with Darshan. She captioned it, “One decade down; forever to go.♥️♥️ #10year It’s been 10years of our relationship. Thank you ✨✨ (sic)''.
As per a report in Economic Times, Pavithra once said that Darshan’s wife knows about their elationship. She had said, “Vijayalakshmi knows about my relationship with Darshan and she has told me several times that it is okay. Now, people are abusing me and my teenage daughter, which is causing me mental pain''.