Bengaluru, 26 Aug

Seven prison officials have been suspended for allegedly giving special treatment to Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is currently in judicial custody in the Renukaswamy murder case.

A Superintendent of the Central Jail at Parappana Agrahara here has also been transferred following an inquiry after a photo of the actor smoking with a coffee mug in hand emerged on social media on Sunday sparking a row.

The picture shows Darshan sitting leisurely on a lawn on the jail premises along with three others, including two alleged rowdy-sheeters.

Those suspended are jailers Sharan Basappa Amingad and Prabhu S Khandelwal, assistant jailers L S Kuppeswamy, Srikanth Talwar, head warders Venkappa, Sampath Kumar and warder K Basappa, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara told reporters here on Monday.

The new jail superintendent will be asked to strictly deal with such incidents of "dereliction of duty," he said.

Parameshwara said soon after the matter came to his knowledge he directed the Director General of Police to conduct a probe following which a team of senior police officials visited the jail. Their inquiry confirmed the involvement of the suspended officers in facilitating special treatment to Darshan, he added.

Parameshwara said it is a matter of concern that such incidents occur despite the presence CCTVs and jammers inside the prisons in the state. A total of 17 people including Darshan along with his friend Pavithra Gowda are currently in judicial custody in connection with the murder case.

According to police sources, 33-year-old 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 stormwater drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on June 9.

Raghavendra, one of the accused who is part of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R R Nagar here, on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and murdered.

According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy, a native of Chitradurga, died due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries.

Police sources said Gowda, who is accused number one, was the "major cause" for Renukaswamy's murder, claiming that it has been proved from the probe that she instigated other accused, conspired with them, and took part in the crime.