A Bengaluru Court on Tuesday (September 8) remanded former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna as well as prison inmate Prathap Rai to two-day police custody over alleged recovery of prohibited items, including a mobile phone and pocket notebook with WhatsApp, Netflix and other Apps, from their prison cell.

The court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate granted police custody until 10:00 AM on September 10.

The case, registered at Parappana Agrahara Police Station, was the result of a surprise search operation conducted by Central Crime Branch at the Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, on August 11.

The sections invoked against Revanna and Rai include Section 42 [possession of mobile phones or communication devices within prison premises] of Karnataka Prisons (Amendment) Act, 2022 and BNS Section 323 [Possession of prohibited articles in prison].

According to the FIR, the search was initiated following orders from the Additional Commissioner of Police (Bangalore City) to conduct inspections of all barracks at the Parappana Central Prison to seize mobile phones, narcotics, and other prohibited items unlawfully possessed by various inmates.

The search team had allegedly seized a Redmi Mobile Phone, a white charger, and a Blue Pocket Notebook as well as a pen drive from the cell housing the accused inmates. The FIR further alleges that Revanna himself took ownership of the pocket notebook whereas the co-accused Prathap Rai claimed the mobile, pen drive and charger as his own.

The police has alleged that both inmates have been using the mobile phone to contact their relatives and lawyers. According to the FIR, all applications installed in the devices were password protected which were not divulged by the inmates.

For context, Prajwal Revanna, son of Karnataka Minister H.D. Revanna and grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, had served as a Member of Parliament from Hassan constituency.

Revanna was later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Special Court in Bengaluru in the first rape case registered against him at the Holenarasipura Rural Police Station of Hassan District.

As per prosecution, the victim worked as a maid at a farmhouse owned by the Revanna family. It is claimed that from 2021, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Revanna repeatedly raped her and filmed the assaults in different locations. Further, it was alleged that Revanna used the videos to intimidate and silence her, preventing her from complaining.