Darshan assaulted Dalit waiter? Bommai asks Mysuru police to investigate

Bommai declined to react to specific allegations made by filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said he directed the Mysuru police to investigate filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh’s allegation that Sandalwood star Darshan and his friends assaulted a Dalit waiter at a hotel.

Indrajit met Bommai and submitted a petition seeking action against Darshan and others.

“(Indrajit) has given me a petition on some recent incidents in Mysuru. I have asked the Mysuru police commissioner to thoroughly investigate,” Bommai said.

After meeting Bommai, Indrajit claimed to have evidence and said: “Darshan, Rakesh Papanna, Harsha Melanta and others hit a Dalit waiter during a party in Mysuru’s Sandesh The Prince hotel. That waiter sustained an eye injury and his vision was blurred. The next day, there was a settlement when his family sought justice.”

Indrajit also said that the Mysuru police were compromised. “There’s no justice for the common man. Mysuru police stations have become settlement stations. They’re settling cases. It’s unfortunate,” he said.

According to Indrajit, one of Darshan’s aides Rakesh is the son of Pappanna, a follower of former chief minister Siddaramaiah. “Papanna says the entire Mysuru police is in his hands,” he said.

Bommai declined to react to specific allegations made by Indrajit. “In his petition, things aren’t very clear...we need evidence to substantiate such claims.” He also refuted charges that the Mysuru police were acting at the behest of influential locals. “The Mysuru police are in the hands of the Mysuru police commissioner.”

Speaking to reporters, Siddaramaiah did not deny knowing Papanna. However, he said: “Anybody can say they know me and that they can get things done. But, it never works that way.”

Indrajit said he went public with this because he could not keep quiet looking at “the excesses of celebrities”.

Indrajit’s claim comes in the wake of an ongoing case involving Darshan. Earlier this month, a case was filed in Mysuru against Melanta and three others, including a woman named Aruna Kumari, for attempting to fraudulently borrow Rs 25 crore in loan by forging property documents of Darshan’s farmhouse. Siding with Aruna, Indrajit said this case was also headed towards “settlement”.

Refuting the charges, Darshan dared Indrajit to prove his claims and said: “invisible hands” were working against him.

Sandesh Nagaraj, who runs the hotel in question, admitted that there was a fight. “Darshan only yelled at the waiter. In fact, I reprimanded Darshan for doing that,” he said.

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