BENGALURU: When Sandalwood star Darshan was arrested, the million-dollar question asked in Karnataka’s political and police circles along with the public was who was instrumental in putting one of the biggest stars of Kannada film industry with a crazy fan base behind bars.
As TOI started piecing together the murder puzzle involving 17 accused, including Darshan’s girlfriend Pavithra Gowda, the role of one police officer stood out: deputy commissioner of police (west division) S Girish.
“If not for this dynamic officer, the truth in the case would have got buried. Daring to pick a leading and influential film star on charges of murder requires courage,” said a senior IPS officer, while commending Girish, assistant commissioner of police (Vijayanagar) Chandan Kumar, and also police commissioner B Dayananda who backed them. In fact, both Girish and Chandan have become ‘real heroes’ for many young cops on the verge of getting disillusioned by the system where dedication to do good barely fetches any brownie points.
“Look at the sequence of events here: there was a murdered person and four guys who walked into station owning up the crime. The station-level officers believed the cooked-up story and chose to close the case. But Girish wasn’t convinced,” said sources. Usually, surrenders in murder cases happen in rowdy-related killings for security reasons. But the four who surrendered lacked consistency in their statements and, the victim was not an anti-social element.
Unravelling mystery
Girish, joined by Chandan, started grilling the four and learnt that the latter are just fall guys and are not connected to Renukaswamy. They were offered money to go to jail. Girish’s next question was: “Who offered money?”. The fall guys pointed to Vinay V, owner of a restaurant in RR Nagar, and police wasted no time in securing him. During questioning, Girish and Chandan learnt one of the accused had called a sub inspector in Kamakshipalya and inquired about the surrender process.
Vinay, who is a close aide of Darshan, reportedly narrated how things went horribly wrong after Renukaswamy was picked up at the actor’s behest and tortured in a godown in RR Nagar. He explained how Darshan was miffed with Renukaswamy’s social media comments on his girlfriend Pavithra Gowda and mentioned the names of all those who were part of the torture squad. Police also retrieved CCTV footage of a Jeep Wrangler (which was used by Darshan) moving around along with a Scorpio near the place where the body was dumped.
“Next, it was showtime as the ‘Sultan of Sandalwood’ had to be picked up. We thought it was not going to happen given the stardom and his proximity to politicians. But Girish sir proved us wrong,” said a cop. While the aides were secured when they were returning from Mysuru, a discreet operation was launched to get Darshan, whose Sandalwood title is ‘Challenging Star’.
A team led by ACP Chandan Kumar landed at a star hotel in Mysuru where Darshan was staying in the wee hours of Tuesday. When Chandan walked up to the star in the hotel gym and told him to accompany the team, Darshan reportedly said: “I know..everything got messed up. You carry on, I will come in my car.”
Darshan’s Rs 3-crore Land Rover Defender was parked at the hotel entrance. However, Chandan retorted: “Will you come with us now or should you be….?” Darshan, who had mouthed similar dialogues in his cop-themed movies earlier, realised the seriousness and got into the police jeep. He was brought to Bengaluru. Soon, the phone lines of Girish and the commissioner started buzzing. All moves to let the star walk free were checkmated as the TV channels started screaming about the arrest.
“Both the actor and his well-wishers did not expect police to act at lightning speed, else the game would have changed,” a cop claimed.
Girish and Chandan were unavailable for comments.