Prison personnel among 7 held for supply of phone, SIM card to ex-MP Prajwal Revanna

Seven people, including two prison personnel, have been booked over the alleged supply of a mobile phone and SIM card to rape-convicted former MP Prajwal Revanna inside Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, with investigators examining an alleged wider supply network extending inside the prison.

Those booked include Pratap Rao, Tausif, Siddiq and prison officials Prakash and Manjunath. The case centres on a phone recovered from the barrack where Revanna, who is serving a life sentence in a rape case, was lodged. Investigators tracing the device and SIM card have found links to the DJ Halli area and are probing the roles of intermediaries, inmates and prison personnel, said officers.

Police said the investigation is focused on how the phone entered the prison and who facilitated its use.

Parappana Agrahara police inspector B Naveen said investigators believe the device was passed to Revanna through a chain involving inmates and prison personnel.

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“According to our investigation, the mobile phone allegedly reached Prajwal through intermediaries, including prison inmates and personnel. Siddiq and Taufiq, who were reportedly accused in the KG Halli and DJ Halli violence cases, are suspected to have assisted in arranging the device,” Naveen told HT.

“On September 10, we sent back Prajwal Revanna to jail after two days in custody. We suspect Taufiq purchased the mobile phone while undergoing treatment at Jayanagar Hospital. A SIM card was subsequently obtained in Siddiq’s name and allegedly taken into the prison for use. We suspect that Prajwal paid around ₹ 1 lakh for the mobile phone and ₹ 50,000 for the SIM card, and investigation is ongoing,” he added.

A special team was formed under DCP Narayan after the phone was detected. The probe has since examined allegations that mobile phones and SIM cards were being brought into the prison through a network involving warders and inmates.

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Investigators have also traced SIM cards connected to the alleged network to Andhra Pradesh. One was reportedly purchased in Punganur, and police are examining its call records.

The call detail records allegedly contain calls to several women and family members. Police are expected to issue notices to some of the people contacted and question them during the investigation.

Police are also examining financial transactions relating to the alleged purchase of the phone and SIM card, along with electronic evidence that could establish how the communication network operated from inside the prison.

A separate case had earlier been registered at the Parappana Agrahara police station against two people in connection with alleged illegal mobile phone use inside the prison. The latest investigation is examining the wider chain through which devices and SIM cards were allegedly brought into the facility.