Ayesha Sultana alleged that police did not allow her to note down contact numbers from the phone. File
Lakshadweep police, who are probing the sedition case against filmmaker Ayesha Sultana, seized her mobile phone today for forensic examination.
Ms Sultana, who was questioned on Thursday, was summoned to the Kavaratti police station today.
Police said the mobile phone was seized for forensic investigation, which is part of the ongoing probe into the case.
"Forensic examination of digital devices is a common practice in such a serious case. We need to check it from the investigation point of view," a police officer in the islands told PTI.
If any messages are deleted, they will be retrieved and examined during the forensic examination, police said.
Police said the case was being probed comprehensively, considering the gravity of the crime.
Lot of information needs to be gathered in the case, which was brought to the notice of the high court also, they said. In a video message to the media, Ms Sultana alleged that the police, after seizing the phone, did not allow her to note the contact numbers from it.
"They did not allow me to note down the important numbers from the contacts in the phone. I don't have the contact number of any of my relatives. I am not able to contact my mother," she said.
The development comes on a day the Kerala High Court granted her anticipatory bail in the case.
Ms Sultana had, during a news debate on a regional channel, blamed Covid cases in the island on administrator Praful Patel's decisions and remarked that the Centre had used "bio-weapon" against Lakshadweep.
Ms Sultana had said during the nearly eight-hour long questioning on Wednesday that police had asked whether she had any contacts abroad.
"They checked my WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook accounts. They were searching whether I have any links with foreign countries," she had said.
Earlier on Sunday, she was questioned for three hours.