Prajwal Revanna may be transferred from Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison to Hindalga Central Prison in Belagavi after a mobile phone, charger, SIM card, pen drive and diary were found in the barrack where he was lodged, according to a report by Prajavani citing departmental and other sources.
Alok Kumar, director general of police of the Department of Prisons and Correctional Services, has reportedly instructed officials to move Revanna to the Belagavi prison. Sources cited in the report said information had been sent by email to the head of Hindalga prison and that the transfer would take place under police security.
The report does not cite a public departmental order confirming that the transfer has been completed. It states that the decision followed a Central Crime Branch inspection of Parappana Agrahara prison in August. The inspection was led by CCB deputy commissioners Haribabu and Imam Khasim, and included the special-security barrack where Revanna was being held.
The search reportedly resulted in the recovery of a mobile phone, charger, SIM card, pen drive and diary. Revanna, a former MP from Hassan, is identified in the report as a convicted accused in a rape case. The report says the mobile phone was sent to a forensic science laboratory for examination.
According to sources quoted by Prajavani, the forensic examination found pornographic videos and photographs on the device. The sources also said Revanna had used the phone from inside the prison to maintain regular conversations with his father, Janata Dal (Secular) MLA H.D. Revanna, his mother Bhavani Revanna and friends.
The prison-related findings led to a separate police case. Based on a complaint filed by CCB inspector Subramanya Swamy, an FIR was registered at Parappana Agrahara police station against Revanna and Pratap Rai, who was accused of assisting him. Police subsequently took the two into custody for questioning for two days, the report said.
The episode has also triggered an internal inquiry into how prohibited devices entered a high-security prison barrack and how communications were allegedly maintained from inside the facility. The Department of Prisons and Correctional Services constituted a team headed by deputy inspector general Jinendra Khanagavi to investigate the matter.
The department has suspended jailer Ramesh Dharmatti and warder Mahesh Sajjan on allegations of negligence, according to the report. The action places the focus on prison oversight, access control and staff accountability at Parappana Agrahara, one of Karnataka’s major correctional facilities.
Prajavani also reported that Shankar, a prisoner accused of being released using forged documents allegedly prepared in the manner of a Supreme Court order in coordination with DIG Somashekar, is being shifted to Ballari prison. Seven others arrested under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act are also reportedly being transferred to prisons in other parts of the state.
The reported next step is Revanna’s transfer to Hindalga prison under police escort. Further confirmation from the prison department or an official record would establish whether the transfer has been carried out and the operational details of the move.
