A file image of Darshan appearing before the magistrate court in Bengaluru.
Credit: DH Photo
On a day when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah clearly stated that the investigation into the high-profile murder case, in which Kannada film actor Darshan is among the accused, was not being conducted under any pressure, reports have emerged of a minister making a desperate plea to a senior Cabinet Colleague, seeking help to bail out the beleaguered celebrity.
Sources said that the minister in question called at the home of a senior cabinet colleague, to discuss the case. The former’s supposedly impassioned plea to lend a helping hand to Darshan prompted the senior minister to appeal to a fellow cabinet colleague, who joined the discussion.
After sharing each other’s views on the case and the ongoing probe into the same, the two senior cabinet colleagues reportedly advised the minister who wanted to help Darshan, that any attempt to interfere with the probe was likely to backfire. The minister, invited at the behest of the senior cabinet colleague who was first approached, is reported to have made it abundantly clear that interfering in the ongoing investigation was ill-advised and impossible.
Unwilling to accept such a helpless position, the junior minister reportedly sought to fall at his senior’s feet. Miffed, his senior colleagues pointed out that any attempt made to influence legal proceedings would land him in a potentially troublesome situation. The discussion reportedly ended with the seniors leaving their junior colleague with a word of caution.
Furthermore, a BJP MLA too is reported to have raised the issue with the government, with a view to help Darshan, but to no avail.
“No minister or MLA has exerted any pressure on me with respect to the case, and should anyone do so, I will not listen to them,” CM Siddaramaiah informed the press on Wednesday. Reiterating that the government had given a free rein to the police, he said that everything would be done in accordance with the law.
It is being murmured within the Congress that the investigators in the case took the political leaders into their confidence, and furnished the evidence they had gathered, thereby ensuring that the political leaders understood that any attempt to interfere with the probe would be counter-productive.
Hard to believe charges: Rachita’s note
Meanwhile, Kannada film star Rachita Ram said she finds it difficult to believe the allegations against Darshan, whom she described as a guru who had introduced her to films and guided her.
She said she was writing a note, posted on Instagram, not as an actress but as a common citizen. She began with a prayer for murder victim Renukaswamy and his family and said she was confident the probe would bring out the truth.