Police verify account of phone handover at Kumaraswamy residence

Bengaluru police are investigating an arrested suspect’s account that a phone linked to an alleged sting-video operation was handed to a staffer at Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s Delhi residence, Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said on November 1. Investigators are checking the account and have collected CCTV and financial-transaction evidence, he said. Singh said Ritesh Pandey told investigators that he and Vinod Sharma bought a mobile phone at a shop in Delhi’s Karol Bagh on the instructions of Prajwal Prasad. Pandey said they later took the phone to Kumaraswamy’s official residence on Kushak Road and handed it to Prasad, who was inside. Police said they were verifying Pandey’s statement; the reported handover has not been established as a final investigative finding. Police said technical evidence includes CCTV footage from the shop and digital records, while investigators have found financial transactions between Pandey and Prasad. A separate account of the police briefing said evidence supported a purchase at the shop and delivery to a location in the building. The commissioner said the investigation was continuing and that the evidence and statements would be...