Pune drug party: Police tells court messages from phone with Khewalkar erased

On Monday, Pune city police submitted their say on the bail application of accused Pranjal Khewalkar before the Pune special court

During the investigation of a house drug party case in Kharadi, Pune city police suspected that crucial mobile data related to the case was allegedly erased.

The police, while opposing the bail, said Khewalkar had been using a mobile number registered in someone else’s name since 2012. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

On Monday, Pune city police submitted their say on the bail application of accused Pranjal Khewalkar before the Pune special court. The police, while opposing the bail, said Khewalkar had been using a mobile number registered in someone else’s name since 2012.

“In this case, police recovered an iPhone from Khewalkar on which a WhatsApp account was active. During the panchanama on July 31, evidence related to the case was found on the device. However, on August 6, cyber experts discovered that the WhatsApp application had been erased. The probe further revealed that the original owner of the SIM card (not Khewalkar) had obtained a fresh SIM with the same number and inserted it into another handset, reactivating WhatsApp there. This resulted in all the WhatsApp data on the phone currently seized by police being erased. This clearly indicates destruction of evidence,” said investigating officer Prashant Annachhatre, Police Inspector, crime branch, in his submission to the Special Court.

Investigators suspect the involvement of a person close to Khewalkar in the alleged tampering of digital evidence. Police sources indicated that the person’s role is under scrutiny, and the individual could be named as a co-accused in the case.

Police further mentioned that they had seized Khewalkar’s mobile phone, on which a WhatsApp account linked to the number was found active. According to an internet panchanama conducted on July 31, this account contained case-related evidence. However, during a follow-up panchanama on August 6, the account was no longer active on the device.

Further inquiries revealed that on August 4, the original owner of the number obtained a new SIM card from the service provider at Muktainagar, Jalgaon. This SIM was inserted into another phone, where the WhatsApp account was reactivated, an action that erased all earlier data.

Police believe this was a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence by reinstalling WhatsApp on a new device with the same number. A senior officer confirmed: “Yes, it is found that somebody deleted the data from the accused’s mobile. At this stage, we cannot reveal the name, but after a detailed investigation, we may name a suspect as a co-accused in this case.”