A key prosecution witness in the Renukaswamy murder trial on Wednesday failed to identify Kannada actor Darshan and most of the other accused in court.

The witness, Puneeth MJ, who worked as a parking attendant at the godown where the alleged crime took place, identified only accused No. 10, Vinay, the son of the godown owner.

Puneeth was deposing before the LVIII Additional City Civil and Sessions Court, Bengaluru, presided over by Judge S.M. Sambrani.

During his examination-in-chief, Puneeth told the court that he worked as a parking attendant for seized vehicles at Intact Auto Park godown in Pattanagere, RR Nagar.

Recounting the events of the day of the alleged murder, he stated that he arrived at the godown around 10 am. After running an errand for Vinay, he returned at around 12:30 pm and saw three unfamiliar persons sitting there. He further deposed that an Etios car arrived some time later with five occupants. The individuals got out and walked towards the right side beyond the godown entrance, after which Puneeth went outside to have lunch.

According to his testimony, he remained at the godown until around 6:30 pm, during which time his colleagues and a security guard were also present. He then left for Male Mahadeshwara Betta.

Puneeth told the court that he learnt about the murder through news reports. Subsequently, a person from RR Nagar called him and asked whether he knew about the murder at the godown. He then watched a video on YouTube and recognised the godown in the footage.

The witness stated that he fled to Kanakapura out of fear after watching the video. He purchased a new mobile phone there and later returned home. After learning about the arrests of Vinay, Darshan and others, he went to stay with a friend in Hassan. He subsequently travelled to Tirupati and returned to Bengaluru, where his mother told him that the police had been looking for him.

When he appeared before the police for questioning, Puneeth said he initially lied out of fear but later admitted that he had been present at the godown on the day of the incident.

During the identification exercise in court, Puneeth identified Vinay, stating that he had known him since he began working at the godown. He failed to identify Darshan and most of the other accused present in court.

The court also recorded the witness's identification of his earlier statement recorded under Section 164 CrPC.

The case concerns the alleged murder of Renukaswamy, a 33-year-old fan of Darshan. According to the prosecution, Renukaswamy was abducted from Chitradurga and tortured at a shed in Bengaluru in June 2024 over allegedly sending obscene messages to actress Pavithra Gowda. He later died, and his body was allegedly dumped in a drain.

Darshan, Pavithra Gowda and 15 others have been charged with offences including criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence, kidnapping and murder under the Indian Penal Code. The accused were granted bail by the Karnataka High Court in December 2024, but the Supreme Court cancelled the bail in August 2025.