Forensic Report Finds Porn Videos on Phone Seized from Jailed Ex-MP Prajwal Revanna

Forensic examination of devices seized from jailed former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna has revealed dozens of pornographic videos, officials said, days after he was caught using a mobile phone inside his prison cell.

Revanna was found using a phone during a surprise raid by Crime Branch officials at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru on August 11. Along with the handset, the raiding team recovered a charger, a pen drive and a notebook from the high-security barrack where he was lodged.

The phone and the pen drive were subsequently sent for forensic analysis. The report has now confirmed the presence of dozens of porn videos on the phone, while web series were found stored on the pen drive.

Revanna, a grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and nephew of Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, is serving a life sentence after being convicted in a rape case. He was convicted last year on charges of rape and of circulating videos of the sexual assault of a 48-year-old woman.

The woman, who worked as a domestic help at the Revanna family's farmhouse in Hassan district's Holenarasipura, had alleged that she was raped repeatedly by him since 2021. She said he recorded the acts and threatened to release the videos if she spoke to anyone about them.

Following the recovery of the phone from his cell, authorities suspended a jail official and ordered a probe into the lapse.

Personal mobile phones, SIM cards and other electronic communication devices are banned inside prisons. Inmates are permitted to communicate only through heavily monitored institutional landlines, public call offices or designated video-calling systems.

The episode has renewed scrutiny of the special privileges reportedly available to so-called VIP prisoners inside Bengaluru's central prison.