Bengaluru, 20 June

A Bengaluru court on Thursday extended police custody of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and three other accused in the Renukaswamy murder case by two days.

Dhanaraj, Vinay and Pradosh are the other three whose police custody was extended. Thirteen other accused, including the actor's friend Pavithra Gowda, were remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody.

A total of 17 people are accused in the murder case. All the accused were produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Judge Vishwanath C Goudar as their police custody ended on Thursday.

According to police sources, Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Gowda, which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder. His body was found near a storm-water drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on 9 June.

Darshan has confessed to have given Rs 30 lakh to another accused Pradosh for the disposal of the body and to ensure that "his name does not come out anywhere," police have claimed. The amount has been recovered from Pradosh's residence, police sources said.

According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy's death was caused due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries sustained. "Viscera samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for further analysis," he said.