Forensic analysis allegedly found explicit videos on a prison-seized mobile phone.
Prajwal Revanna denied owning the device or downloading the reported content.
Police detected unauthorised calls to relatives and a female acquaintance.
Pornographic videos were allegedly found on the mobile phone seized from jailed former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, a police officer told PTI.
The device was recovered during a surprise inspection at Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison on August 11. A pen drive seized during the same operation was reportedly found to contain films and web series.
Revanna, a rape convict, was allegedly found using an Android smartphone inside the prison. A video that emerged later appeared to show him dressed in casual clothes and speaking to someone over the phone.
The Central Crime Branch subsequently conducted a four-to-five-hour search of his barrack and seized the phone along with other items. The recovered devices were later sent for forensic examination.
Revanna denied that the phone belonged to him during questioning, according to police. He reportedly claimed that other inmates used the handset and passed it among themselves on a rotational basis. He also denied downloading the explicit videos allegedly recovered from the device.
Investigators also found a notebook containing the phone numbers of Revanna’s relatives and acquaintances. Police said an examination of the call records indicated unauthorised communication with family members through intermediaries, besides direct calls to a female friend. Revanna reportedly acknowledged making the calls to the woman during questioning.
Police are expected to issue notices to individuals whose numbers appeared in the phone’s call history.
The prohibited phone, SIM card, charger and notebook were recovered from a cell occupied by undertrial prisoner Prathap Rai and Revanna, according to police. A case was subsequently registered at Parappana Agrahara Police Station.
Five people have been arrested for allegedly helping smuggle the phone and SIM card into the prison. Investigators said the accused had purchased the devices and facilitated their entry into the jail.
During questioning, the accused allegedly told police that a warder had brought the phone inside, while an undertrial prisoner smuggled in the SIM card. They also reportedly claimed that Rai and Revanna used both items.
Rai and Revanna were produced before a court on September 8 and remanded to three days of police custody. They were returned to prison on September 10 following a court order.
