Actor Darshan to Ballari Jail

• Likely to be shifted in the afternoon or evening by road
• Darshan’s judicial custody extended till Sept. 9

Mysuru/Bengaluru: Following the revelation of VIP treatment enjoyed by murder accused Sandalwood actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, that came to be known after the photo of the actor chilling with rowdy-sheeters in the precincts of Parappana Agrahara Jail went viral, the Magistrate of 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Court gave approval on Tuesday, for the application to shift the actor and nine other accused to various jails in the State.

Accordingly, it has been decided to shift Darshan to Ballari Central Prison, that was built during the British rule in the year 1874 to house political prisoners, who took part in freedom movement.

The Department of Prisons and Correctional Services, has issued preliminary instructions to Ballari Jail authorities to ready the cell where the actor will be lodged and Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) camera in order. The actor will be henceforth kept under high security with CCTV surveillance to monitor his movements, it is said.

Prior to his shifting, the Prisons officials held a series of meetings and discussed about the measures to be taken for smooth transit of the actor.

Probe on fresh FIRs

Meanwhile, ACP Manjunath who has been tasked with the enquiry related to actor having easy access to prohibited articles in the jail, in one of the three First Information Reports (FIR) filed in the cases, visited Parappana Agrahara Jail this morning.

The accused in fresh FIRs including Darshan, rowdy-sheeters Wilson Garden Naga and Sreenivas alias Kulla Seena, his manager Nagaraj, another rowdy-sheeter Velu, who is facing the charges of clicking the photo of Darshan hanging out with Naga and others, on his cell phone camera and other accused were quizzed, it is said.

With the judicial custody of the actor and all other 16 accused in the murder case extended further, he will be produced before the Court through Video Conference (VC) henceforth from Ballari jail.

In DAR van?

Darshan, is most likely to be shifted from Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, where he is currently lodged, in the District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police van late in the afternoon or late evening hours, with the authorities maintaining secrecy to avoid the hiccup, with the actor enjoying a large fan following. He will be escorted by armed Policemen during his transit period. With Ballari located at the distance of 312 km from Bengaluru, it will take not less than five hours to travel by road, it is said.

Ballari SP inspects

Ahead of Darshan’s shifting to Ballari Jail, Ballari Superintendent of Police Dr. Shobha Rani inspected the arrangements in place and the barrack, where the actor will be lodged.

Two roads connecting the jail will be suitably barricaded to avoid any trespassing, with both Police and Home Guards being deputed in large numbers on security duty.

With the fans of the actor spread across the State, his fans are already making a beeline outside Ballari Jail, to catch a glimpse of their favourite actor, it is said.

Other associates

Darshan’s associates Pavan, Raghavendra and Nandeesh will be will be shifted to Mysuru Central Prison, Jagadish and Lakshman to Shivamogga Central Prison, Dhanraj to Dharwad Central Prison, Vinay to Vijayapura Central Prison, Nagaraj to Kalaburagi Central Prison and Pradosh to Hindalaga Jail in Belagavi, it is said.

While actress Pavithra Gowda, the prime accused in the murder case, will remain in Parapanna Agrahara Jail, along with Anukumar and Deepak. While the other four accused Ravi, Karthik, Nikhil and Keshavamurthy are lodged in Tumakuru jail.

Darshan and other accused have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody, from over two months, on charge of murdering Renukaswamy of Chitradurga, the body of whom was found near a storm water drain in the city on June 9.

Reel to real life prisoner

Interestingly, it was in the same Ballari Central Prison, where Darshan took part in the shooting in a cameo role as a prisoner, for runaway hit Kannada film ‘Chowka’ released in the year 2017. Now, he will be entering the same jail premises, as an inmate in real life.

It has the capacity to accommodate 800 prisoners and has five separate blocks for undertrials and 200 cells for convicts alone. It presently has over 300 inmates, it is said.