Bengaluru: Nine men were arrested in three separate cases involving the use and supply of prohibited mobile phones inside the Central Prison here over a period of time, police said on Friday.

Some of the arrests were made following a surprise inspection of the barracks of the Security Division of the Central Prison on August 11, police said.

During the inspection, a prohibited mobile phone, SIM card, charger and notebook were found in a cell occupied by undertrial prisoner Prathap Rai and convicted former MP Prajwal Revanna, police said.

A case was subsequently registered at the Parappana Agrahara Police Station.

According to a police statement, during the investigation, five persons who had allegedly purchased the seized mobile phone and SIM card and facilitated their transportation into the prison were taken into custody on different dates and interrogated.

They allegedly revealed that the mobile phone had been smuggled into the prison through a prison warder, while the SIM card had been brought in through an undertrial prisoner.

The accused allegedly revealed that the mobile phone and SIM card were being used by undertrial prisoner Prathap Rai and convicted prisoner Prajwal Revanna, police said.

Naveen Kumar was taken into custody on August 17 and produced before a court on August 24, which remanded him to judicial custody, police said.

Manjunath and Prakash were produced before the court on August 20 and taken into police custody for five days for interrogation. They were again produced before the court on August 24 and remanded to judicial custody.

Siddiq and Mohammed Tauseef were produced before the court on August 23 and taken into police custody for two days. They were again produced before the court on August 24 and remanded to judicial custody.

On September 8, Prathap Rai and Prajwal Revanna were produced before the court and taken into police custody for three days for interrogation.

On September 10, they were sent back to prison following the court's order.

In the second case, registered on a complaint by the Bengaluru Central Prison superintendent on January 13, police traced two Airtel SIM cards found with four mobile phones and a charger using technical data obtained through the CEIR portal, police said.

The investigation revealed that two of the prohibited phones had allegedly been procured by Srinivas Naik, a prison warder.

He was arrested on August 28 and allegedly confessed to purchasing the phones under the fictitious name "Rahul" and supplying around 12 mobile phones illegally inside the prison, police said.

He was remanded to judicial custody on August 29. Investigation is underway to identify the inmates who allegedly obtained and used the phones, police said.

In the third case, registered on a complaint lodged on August 20, police traced a mobile phone and SIM card found inside the prison through the phone's sale records and identified Bharat alias Bhuvan as the purchaser, they said.

During questioning, police found that the phone had allegedly been supplied on the instructions of Bharat alias KTM Bharat, an inmate currently in judicial custody, with the alleged involvement of prison Chief Warder Vijay Kumar, police said.

Vijay Kumar was arrested on August 28 and allegedly confessed to his involvement, police said. Investigation based on technical data is underway into the alleged involvement of Bharat and other prison staff, they added.