Explicit Videos Found on Prison Phone Used by Prajwal Revanna, Police Say

A forensic examination of the mobile phone seized from the prison cell of convicted former MP Prajwal Revanna has revealed several dozen explicit videos, police said on Saturday.

The phone was seized during a surprise inspection of the Security Division of Parappana Agrahara Central Prison on August 11. The devices and other material recovered during the four-to-five-hour search by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) were subsequently sent for forensic examination.

According to police, the seized phone contained several dozen pornographic videos, while a pen drive had movies and web series. A notebook recovered from the barrack contained contact numbers of Revanna's family members and acquaintances. Police said Revanna was found using an Android smartphone inside the prison last month. A video that subsequently surfaced showed him in casual clothes, speaking to someone over the phone.

During questioning, however, Revanna denied owning the mobile phone and claimed that other inmates also used it and that it came to him on a rotational basis. He also denied downloading any of the explicit videos, according to an officer familiar with the investigation.

The police officer said call logs showed that Revanna had allegedly made unauthorised communications with family members through intermediaries. The logs also showed direct calls to a female friend, which he allegedly acknowledged during questioning. Police said notices would soon be issued to people whose numbers appeared in the phone's call history.

The phone, SIM card, charger and notebook were recovered from a cell occupied by undertrial prisoner Prathap Rai and convicted prisoner Revanna, following which a case was registered.

Police said five people allegedly involved in procuring the phone and SIM card and facilitating their entry into the prison have been arrested. They allegedly told investigators that the phone was smuggled in through a prison warder, while the SIM card was brought through an undertrial prisoner. Rai and Revanna were taken into three-day police custody on September 8 and sent back to prison on September 10 following a court order.