The smartphone that was in the possession of former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is serving a life sentence in a rape case, had an internet connection.
The scion of the powerful political family in Karnataka was able to access WhatsApp and popular streaming platforms Netflix and Prime Video using the device. The password-protected apps on the phone also included Instagram, reports claimed.
A Redmi 5G handset was confiscated from his room during a Central Crime Branch (CCB) raid at Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison on Tuesday. Revanna and his cellmate Pratap Rai, an undertrial prisoner, have both reportedly maintained that they do not know what the password for the device is.
According to available information, the smartphone was recovered from Revanna's hands. However, Pratap Rai maintains that the phone, along with its charger and a pen drive that was recovered during the search, belonged to him. Revanna has reportedly confessed to having used the device to keep in touch with his lawyer as well as his family.
The duo has been booked under the relevant sections of the Karnataka Prisons (Amendment) Act, 2022, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. As a consequence, Assistant Superintendent Iranna Rangapur was suspended, while the superintendent of Bengaluru Central Prison was served a show-cause notice, Hindustan Times said in a report. An enquiry is underway and CCTV footage is being checked to establish whether prison staff were involved.
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Thirty-six-year-old Prajwal Revanna, son of H. D. Revanna, represented Hassan in the Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024. He was arrested in May 2024 in connection with sexual assault cases and was subsequently convicted in a rape case.
In August 2025, a special court in Bengaluru sentenced him to life imprisonment, following which he was lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison.
