BENGALURU: Forensic examination has revealed that the mobile phone seized from the prison cell of convicted former MP Prajwal Revanna contained several explicit videos, while the pen drive had movies and web series, police said on Saturday.
The seizures made following a surprise inspection of the barracks of the Security Division of the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison on August 11, were later sent for forensic examination, they said.
According to officials, Revanna was found using an android smartphone inside the Central Prison last month and a video that surfaced later showed him in casual clothes and talking to someone on the phone.
The phone along with other devices was seized from Revanna's barrack during a four-to-five-hour Central Crime Branch (CCB) search at the prison.
Investigation into the case being conducted by the CEN police station revealed that several dozens of pornographic videos were found from the seized mobile phone, a police officer privy to the investigation told PTI.
However, dring questioning, Revanna denied that the phone belonged to him. He claimed that other inmates also used the phone and that it came to him on a rotational basis, he said.
He also denied downloading any of the pornographic videos, the officer said. The notebook seized from him contained contact numbers of his family members and acquaintances, he said.
However, call logs indicated that Revanna made unauthorised communication with family members via intermediaries, alongside direct calls placed to a female friend, which he accepted during the questioning, the officer said.
He continued to deny ownership of the mobile phone and maintained that he had not downloaded any of the explicit videos, the officer added.
Police said that notices will soon be issued to all those whose phone numbers were logged in the device's call history.
According to police, during the inspection, a prohibited mobile phone, SIM card, charger and notebook were found in a cell occupied by undertrial prisoner Prathap Rai and convicted former MP Prajwal Revanna.
A case was subsequently registered at Parappana Agrahara Police Station in this regard.
According to police statement issued on Friday in connection with the probe related to seizures of mobile phones from the Central Prison, five persons who had allegedly purchased the seized mobile phone and SIM card and facilitated their transportation into the prison have been arrested in this case and interrogated.
They allegedly revealed that the mobile phone had been smuggled into the prison through a prison warder, while the SIM card had been brought in through an undertrial prisoner, it said.
The accused also allegedly revealed that the mobile phone and SIM card were being used by undertrial prisoner Prathap Rai and convicted prisoner Revanna, police said.
On September 8, Rai and Revanna were produced before the court and taken into police custody for three days for interrogation. On September 10, they were sent back to prison as per the court's order, police added.
