Bengaluru, 15 June 

A court on Saturday extended the police custody of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa along with his friend Pavithra Gowda and eleven others, who are accused in connection with the Renukaswamy murder case, by five more days.

They were produced before the court as their six-day police custody will end on Sunday.

As the court would be shut on Sundays and Monday (Bakrid) -- a public holiday, the police decided to produce them before Judge Vishwanath C Goudar. With this, Darshan, Gowda and others will continue to be in police custody till 20 June.

The advocates of Darshan and others requested the court to send them to judicial custody. However, the investigation team requested the court that crucial evidence and equipment used to torture the deceased needs to be recovered and hence extend the police custody.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) on Saturday visited the family of Renukaswamy and handed them Rs 5 lakh as compensation. Actor Darshan, popularly known as ‘Challenging Star’, and 12 of his close associates were arrested on June 12 for the murder of the 33-year-old fan of the actor. "We have gone to convey our condolences personally and also to tell the family how apologetic the industry is about what happened to Renukaswamy. We also told them that we will stand with them in future too," said NM Suresh, President of KFCC. -PTI

Actor Darshan’s fan clout hyped up: Divya Spandana