The Karnataka High Court on Friday, October 10, granted bail to five self-proclaimed fans of actor Darshan who were arrested for sending abusive and threatening messages to Kannada actor and former Congress MP Ramya.
A bench of Justice Shivashankar Amarannavar, while granting bail, noted that the charge sheet has already been filed in the case and the presence of the petitioners is not required for further investigation.
The accused — K Manjunath, C Y Manjunath, T Obanna, K Pramod, and Chinmay Shetty — were directed to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each and provide one surety of the same amount. The court also granted anticipatory bail to another accused, Vikas B A.
The defence argued that the accused were young followers of actor Darshan and that since the alleged offences occurred online, there was no possibility of tampering with the investigation. They further contended that the investigation was largely complete and that the complainant, actress Ramya, being a public figure, faced no real threat.
The prosecution opposed the bail, stating that the accused faced serious charges of issuing rape and murder threats.
Ramya was targeted online after she publicly welcomed the Supreme Court’s criticism of the Karnataka High Court’s decision to grant bail to actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and six others accused in the Renukaswamy murder case.
The Karnataka Police on Thursday submitted a 380-page charge sheet against 12 people accused of threatening Ramya — all of them fans of Darshan, who is the second accused in the murder case. His partner, Pavithra Gowda, the first accused, is also lodged in Bengaluru Central Jail.
The charge sheet, submitted to the 45th Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Court by the Central Crime Branch (CCB), Bengaluru, includes screenshots of social media threats, Ramya’s statement, and the accused’s confessions.
While 12 accused have been charge-sheeted, police are still searching for six others. Four of the accused remain in judicial custody, while the rest have been released on bail. The trial is expected to commence soon.
With IANS inputs