Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered authorities on Monday to transfer the accused actor and his collaborators to different jails following criticism over a video showing the incarcerated actor receiving preferential treatment in prison.
Darshan is lodged in Bengaluru Central Prison with 13 accused persons in the case of kidnapping and murder. The 13 include his partner, the main accused, Pavithra Gowda. Another four accused are lodged in Tumakuru district prison.
The official statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) stated that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has considered the case of giving luxury treatment to Darshan in the Bengaluru Central Prison seriously and directed the authorities to suspend the responsible officers immediately.
CM Siddaramaiah has also directed the Karnataka DGP to visit the prison and submit a detailed report, shifting Darshan and his associates to different jails across the state.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka prisons department has suspended seven staffers, including two jailers, for allowing Kannada actor Darshan to smoke a cigarette and drink coffee inside the prison.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Home Minister G. Parameshwara announced this on Monday.
The photo of Darshan seated on a chair outside his barrack with a cigarette in one hand, and a coffee mug in another went viral on Sunday. In the photo, Darshan’s manager and other two jail inmates can also be seen sitting with him.
The development stirred controversy in the state, raising questions about the functioning of the prisons and rampant corruption in the department.
Home Minister Parameshwara stated that following the incident, DG Prisons Malini Krishnamurthy immediately spoke to the officers concerned in the Bengaluru Central Prison, and an enquiry was conducted till 1 a.m.
Following the preliminary investigation, seven officers attached to the Bengaluru Central Prison have been suspended with immediate effect. The jail superintendent will be transferred as soon as the report is submitted, he added.
He stated that if senior officers are found involved, action will be initiated against them without any hesitation or mercy.
Jailers Sharana Basava Ameenagada, Prabhu S. Khandelwal, Assistant Jailer L.S. Tippe Swamy and Srikanth Talwar, Head Warden Venkatappa Murthy, warden Basappa Teli and Head Warden Venkatappa Kattoli and Sampath Kumar Kadapatti have been suspended following the preliminary probe, Parameshwara stated.
“This is a lapse, and it should not have taken place. As the matter surfaced, the officers concerned were suspended, and action was taken. All prisons are sensitised, and jammers and CCTV cameras are present. In spite of all this, the incident took place and swift action has been taken to avoid any such incident in the future,” the Home Minister said.
He added that no mercy would be shown to anyone involved in the incident. A probe was also underway to determine who took the photo and how the person got a mobile phone inside the prison.
The investigation will reveal everything, HM Parameshwara stated.
The police department conducted raids in the central jail two days ago; however, no mobile phone was seized at that time.
“We will also investigate the matter and look whether the mobiles were hidden or sent out on a tip-off. We are checking the CCTV footage of the jail of the last three days,” he stated.
When asked whether the government was under any pressure in the Darshan case, HM Parameshwara said, “We will correct and tighten the system. There is no question of bowing down to any pressure. ”
He clarified that there was no question of weakening the case. Action had been taken as per the law, and the department would continue to take action in the future as well.
“There is nothing to hide in the case, facts are facts. I will see to it that the incident is not repeated,” he stated.
Darshan’s video has shocked the family of Renukaswamy, a fan allegedly killed by the actor, his partner Pavithra Gowda and 15 others.
The case is in the final stage of submission of a charge sheet, and this development is seen as a setback for Darshan, who was hoping to apply for bail soon after the submission of the charge sheet.
The gruesome murder of Renukaswamy took place on June 8 in Bengaluru. He was kidnapped from his hometown, Chitradurga, brought to Bengaluru, kept in a shed, and tortured to death.
After the murder, his body was thrown into a canal. The incident came to light after the security personnel of a private apartment building saw the body being dragged by a pack of dogs.
Renukaswamy is survived by aged parents, a pregnant wife and a sister.
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–IANS
