TikTok Star ‘Smile’ Naveen of Bengaluru, who was allegedly kidnapped in front of Mysore Palace on Aug. 27, was found murdered near Hullahalli at Golur in Nanjangud taluk.
Nanjangud Rural Police have arrested eight accused. Naveen was done to death in the moving car itself, before his body was disposed off near the canal, where it was found in a bush. He is suspected to have been murdered to avenge the killing of realtor Vinod at Kaggaliupura Police Station limits, Ramanagara district in July 2020.
A gang of 13 including Naveen had allegedly kidnapped Vinod before brutally murdering him. Naveen had surrendered to Police along with his four friends in the case. Later, the Police had arrested all the remaining accused, who were all lodged in a jail. Naveen had been released from the jail recently.
The arrested have been identified as R. Yashwanth (alias Karjoora), aged 26 and a resident of Seventh Cross, Nimishamba Layout, Kuvempunagar, N. Mahesh, aged 23 and a resident of Kaduvina Kattehundi village in Chamarajanagar taluk, R. Preetham Gowda (alias Halappa), aged 25 and a resident of Fifth Cross, Fifth Main, Vinayaka Nagar in Mysuru, N. Sudeep, aged 22 and a resident of Seventh Cross, K.G. Koppal, Raghavendra, aged 21 and a resident of K.G. Koppal, Prashanth, aged 21 and a resident of Seventh Main, Vinayaka Nagar, and Arvind Sagar, aged 26 and a resident of Third Stage, Kuvempunagar.
What happened
On Aug. 27, Naveen was shooting reels along with Pavan and two girls in front of Varaha Gate, the main entrance to Mysore Palace. When two cars made a sudden stop. The kidnappers in one of the cars tried to get hold of Naveen and Pavan. As the two started to run, another car with 10 kidnappers inside, rammed into them, before taking the duo in the vehicle.
Both started pleading inside the car, saying It’s not me Parami, please leave me. Chandru, a guide at Palace, who saw the kidnapping incident, informed K.R. Police. Though the Police made a bid to trail kidnappers, they lost their trace after some time.
Following day (Aug. 28) at 4.30 pm, a body was found in a bush near Hullahalli Canal, in Nanjangud taluk, that was later identified to be as that of Naveen, by Nanjangud Rural Police during investigation. While Naveen was hacked to death inside the car, Pavan had been let off by the kidnappers.
Naveen who was popular as ‘TikTok Star’ had a huge followers. He was not only acting for film songs, but was also shooting his own short stories, setting a craze among his fans. Besides, he was also associated with rowdies and jailed in the murder case. Even after the TikTok was banned, Naveen had continued to shoot videos for reels. He also had huge followers on Instagram and Facebook.
With input from Star of Mysore website