Kannada film star Darshan Thoogudeepa (on the right), rowdy 'Wilson Garden' Naga (next to Darshan), and the actor's manager Nagaraj (on the extreme left). The viral picture sparked a row on Darsha's prison 'perks'.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: The police on Thursday obtained custody of two jailed rowdies to question them over the viral video of actor Darshan Thoogudeepa smoking and having a drink with some inmates in the prison premises.
The Bengaluru Southeast police are probing an FIR filed by a prison official about a purported picture taken by an inmate that went viral. The purported picture showed Darshan hobnobbing with gangster Nagaraj alias Wilson Garden Naga and Kulla Seena, and sipping a beverage with a cigarette in hand.
A well-placed source told DH that they had taken custody of Nagaraj and one Velu for three days. While Naga is seen in the picture, a preliminary probe into the case has revealed that Velu may be the person who clicked the image.
“We are investigating the source of the mobile phone, which model it was, how the picture leaked and how they destroyed the mobile phone,” the officer told DH.
Investigations revealed that Darshan and three others seen in the picture were sipping coffee. Once they learnt that the picture was leaked, they had even destroyed the cups. However, they managed to safeguard the mobile phones by hiding them in “safe places”.
But a police team from the Southeastern Division, headed by its Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sara Fathima, raided the high-security barrack where Nagaraj and his associates were lodged, recovering 15 mobile phones, cigarette packets and Rs 36,000 in cash.
Court nod
On Tuesday, a Bengaluru court approved the police’s petition to move Nagaraj alias Wilson Garden Naga and his 18 associates to different state prisons.
A source in the Bengaluru City Police had told DH that Nagaraj and his associates were influencing events outside despite being lodged in prison.
Before moving them to different prisons, the court gave their custody to the Southeast Police on Thursday.