Bengaluru, 4 Sept

The Bengaluru Police on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against 17 accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, including Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa.

A "watertight" chargesheet was prepared after investigating the case from all aspects, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda told reporters here.

The chargesheet comprises 231 witness statements and technical and electronic evidence, the police said, adding, it was a massive investigation.

The 3,991-page chargesheet (with seven volumes and 10 files) was submitted to the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court. "We have arrested 17 people in this case who are in judicial custody. There are three direct eye witnesses; 27 witnesses have given their statements before the court and other witnesses have recorded their statements before the police," Dayananda said.

"We had sent several materials pertaining to the investigation to FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) here and CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad). We have received their reports but some reports from CFSL are yet to come," he said.

As many as 56 police officers are among the witnesses in the case, Dayananda added.

In a statement, the police said that the chargesheet against the 17 accused has been filed on the basis of the accounts of eye-witnesses, circumstantial, technical, scientific and other evidence collected by the investigators.

The evidence collected has been submitted to the court under section 173 (8) of CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure), which gives unrestrained right to the investigating agency for further probe, it said.

Darshan along with his friend Pavithra Gowda and 15 others, who are accused in the case, are currently under judicial custody in different prisons in the state.

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 9 June.

Raghavendra, one of the accused who is part of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in RR 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 Pavithra, 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.