Fan murder case: 'He hardly spoke', says actor Vinod after meeting Darshan in jail

Bengaluru, June 24: Kannada superstar Darshan, who is in judicial custody for his alleged involvement in the brutal murder of one of his fans, barely spoke to him, said popular actor Vinod Prabhakar after meeting the former at the Central Prison here on Monday.

Speaking to reporters outside the prison, Vinod said, "I met Darshan today. He was very quiet when I greeted him. He only spoke for one second, and addressed me as 'Tiger,' while I addressed him as 'boss'. Darshan did not talk about anything else. I shook his hand and came out."

"I met him (Darshan) under unusual circumstances. I was clueless and didn’t know what to say. I was made to sit in a separate room. May Renukaswamy’s (the victim) soul rest in peace. His wife is pregnant, and I pray to God to give strength to his family. This should not have happened. I had met Darshan four months ago on his birthday," he said.

"Some people are saying that I am not coming forward to support Darshan. I had also gone to meet him at the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police station but I could not meet him there. See, if the problem could have been solved by social media posts, I would have made one lakh posts. But this is a serious issue. No one is above the law, and everyone should get justice," Vinod added.

Meanwhile, Darshan’s wife Vijayalakshmi also came to the prison with her son but left soon after seeing the waiting mediapersons.

Darshan, his 'partner' Pavithra Gowda, and 15 others have been arrested on charges of murdering Renukaswamy (33), a resident of Chitradurga.

The probe revealed that Renukaswamy, a big fan of Darshan, had sent derogatory messages to Pavithra Gowda on social media. The victim was allegedly kidnapped, brought to Bengaluru, kept in a shed, and tortured to death.

Darshan is presently in judicial custody till July 4.