The Karnataka Prisons Department has temporarily put on hold its proposal to shift former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna from Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison to Hindalga Prison in Belagavi, citing “administrative and technical” reasons, according to Prison Department sources.
Revanna is serving a life sentence in a rape case. The proposed transfer was being considered after he was allegedly found in possession of a mobile phone during a Central Crime Branch raid at Parappana Agrahara Central Prison on August 11.
The department’s decision leaves Revanna at Parappana Agrahara for the time being. The report does not specify whether the proposed transfer has been cancelled or when the administrative and technical issues that led to the hold may be resolved.
The reported phone discovery has triggered further official action. The Parappana Agrahara police recently obtained a body warrant for further investigation into the case. The police had sought custody of Revanna to determine how the prohibited phone reached him and how it was allegedly being used inside the prison.
A body warrant enables the police to take a person already in judicial custody into their custody for investigation or proceedings in another case, subject to the relevant court process. In this matter, the police request is linked to the investigation into the alleged possession and use of the mobile phone inside the prison.
The proposed move to Hindalga had therefore involved both a prison-administration decision and an ongoing police investigation. The temporary hold means that the immediate question of Revanna’s transfer remains unresolved while the police pursue details about the phone and the prison authorities address the reasons cited for delaying the move.
Parappana Agrahara Central Prison is one of Karnataka’s principal correctional facilities and has previously housed high-profile inmates. The reported incident has placed attention on how prohibited communication devices can enter a secure custodial facility and how responsibility is established when such a device is discovered.
The Prison Department has not, in the information available in the report, publicly detailed the administrative or technical issues behind the decision. The next step will depend on the department’s resolution of those issues and the progress of the police investigation connected with the body warrant.
