Karnataka SIT Seizes Evidence from Prajwal Revanna's Quarters Amid Sexual Assault Investigation

Karnataka SIT Seizes Evidence from Prajwal Revanna's Quarters Amid Sexual Assault Investigation

Beds, cots, and furniture were taken by the SIT on Wednesday from Prajwal Revanna's Hassan MP quarters, where some of the alleged sexual assault episodes took place. In advance of JD(S) Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna's scheduled return from abroad on May 31, the Karnataka Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) has allegedly gathered a "mountain of circumstantial evidence" for the crimes. The SIT is looking into three cases of rape against the 33-year-old MP.

Prajwal Revanna is scheduled to arrive in Munich, Germany at 12:35 am on Friday. He left the country on April 27, shortly after the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and after videos of alleged sexual assault surfaced. The SIT has an arrest warrant out for Prajwal Revanna, so it's likely that they will arrest him when they arrive. While the statements made to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) by three victims of sexual assault serve as the primary evidence in the three First Information Reports (FIRs) of rape against the NDA candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the SIT has also accumulated secondary evidence from circumstantial clues such as videos recorded of the attacks and the location of the attacks.

Since the MP's own video recordings of the alleged assaults form the basis of the investigation, the SIT has conducted extensive crime scene mappings, or mahazars, to confirm the locations of the incidents. This work has been done in conjunction with efforts to locate the device—an iPhone—that the MP reported missing and used for the recordings. In order to build a case against the MP, the SIT is examining physical characteristics and voice characteristics similar to those in the recordings of the sexual assaults that were included in a pen drive containing over 2,900 clips. The drive was purportedly leaked into the public domain by the political rivals of the JD(S) MP, and Prajwal Revanna's face was not visible in any of the clips.

Technical evidence, such as the accused's and his victims' cell phone tower locations on the days the incidents are said to have happened and as discovered in the crime recordings, has also been utilized in an attempt to prove the assault incidents. According to sources, statements from more than a dozen witnesses who were aware of the events at the MP's quarters in Hassan, as well as family homes in Bengaluru and Hassan, have been gathered in addition to crime scene maps and technical evidence such as voice samples and cell location data.

Using video, photos, and drawings, the SIT created elaborate and comprehensive crime scene maps during the first phase of the investigations. This was carried out in order to pinpoint the crime's scene. According to the crime recordings, there were attempts to reposition items observed in the room where the incident took place, a SIT source stated.

Beds, cots, and furnishings from Prajwal Revanna's Hassan MP quarters—where some of the alleged sexual assault episodes took place—were taken by the SIT on Wednesday. Following the accused's arrest, physical characteristics confirmed by medical professionals, voice samples from victims who resisted the MP's assaults as seen in the recordings, and perhaps even the accused's DNA will be gathered for verification.

One victim has claimed that she was abducted from Hassan for domestic work and that she was assaulted at the MP's family's Bengaluru home. It is also reported that the victim was beaten in Hassan. In order to track the "path of the travel of sex videos" of the Hassan MP, the SIT has been examining data saved on cloud services (iCloud) for iPhones. This includes the device—which is currently being reported as missing—on which the incidents were filmed.

A car driver for the MP is said to have taken the videos from Prajwal Revanna's iPhone by using the 'AirDrop' wireless communication method between iPhones. Karthik N, 40, the driver of the vehicle, is said to have purchased an iPhone and moved Prajwal Revanna's phone's data to it. A property issue caused the car driver and the MP to fall out in March 2023. Since the Prajwal Revanna sex films and assault controversy surfaced before of the Lok Sabha elections on April 26, the driver has been missing.

He has been identified as one of four persons who reportedly altered photos and videos of the MP with local Hassan women and disseminated them to the public in advance of the April 26 Lok Sabha election, according to a police report submitted by Prajwal Revanna's election agent Poornachandra Tejasvi. In an attempt to identify the original sources of the recordings, the SIT has been examining technical data for iPhone and iCloud users in the group purportedly responsible for sharing the MP's videos.

According to police sources, since Apple users have robust security and access controls, this could also aid in locating the device or account where the original recordings were kept and distributed. On Wednesday, Prajwal Revanna entered a plea of anticipatory bail in the three sexual assault cases that the SIT had brought against him. A few hours after his speculative arrival in Bengaluru, on May 31, the JD(S) MP's anticipatory bail requests were posted for hearing. This indicates that the MP will likely be detained upon arrival by the SIT, which had issued an arrest warrant on May 18.