Hyderabad:

The snooping case that has erupted in Telangana – which could become a big issue in next month’s Lok Sabha election – witnessed further revelations after one of the arrested police officers – Radhakrishna Rao – claimed cash was moved in official vehicles in the 2018 and 2023 Assembly polls.

According to the remand report filed by the police, the arrested police officer said Praneeth Rao, Bhujanga Rao, Tirupatanna, and Venugopal Rao conspired under the leadership of then State Intelligence Bureau chief T Prabhakar Rao, to ensure the BRS remains in power in Telangana.

Radhakrisha Rao reportedly gave the Dubbak and Munugode by-polls as examples.

He said Rs 3.5 crore had been confiscated from people linked to Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy ahead of the latter election. Mr Reddy contested the 2022 by-poll on a BJP ticket. He lost to the BRS’ Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, but jumped to the Congress for the 2023 election and won the seat.

The Dubbak by-poll in 2020 saw the BJP’s Raghunandan Rao beat the BRS’ Solipeta Reddy. According to Radhakrishna Rao, Rs 1 crore was seized from a person running a chit fund company linked to the BJP leader based on intercepted calls. In 2023 he lost the seat to the BRS’ Kotha Prabhakar Reddy.

The arrested police officer, Radhakrishna Rao, said “officials involved spoke about ensuring BRS (earlier called Telangana Rashtra Samithi) continued in power”.

Mr Rao was Deputy Commissioner of Police in the city task force. He had managed to get two extensions for three years each from August 2020 when he retired.

He was, however, moved prior to elections on the complaint and recommendation of Sandeep Shandilya, who was appointed as Hyderabad Police Commissioner when the Model Code of Conduct was in operation prior to the Assembly election.

T Prabhakar Rao has been named as the primary accused and faces a look-out notice. He is presently in the United States, but sources told NDTV he is expected to join the investigation soon.

Mr Rao, who was also earlier Chief Security Officer to the former Chief Minister – K Chandrashekar Rao, or KCR, reportedly told investigating authorities he acted on Prabhakar Rao’s instructions.

Radhakrishna Rao was arrested – he too had faced a look-out notice – after being questioned at a police station in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills.

In the remand report presented by the authorities, Mr Rao provided examples of specific seizures and, significantly, claimed he had spied on opposition leaders on the orders of a member of KCR’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which has dominated Telangana politics since the state was formed in 2014.

The BRS, however, was beaten by the Congress in last year’s Assembly election.

The Telangana phone-tapping case involves gathering electronic data not just for political intelligence, but to blackmail leaders, and even private companies and Tollywood celebrities.

Congress leader N Uttam Kumar Reddy told NDTV all this happened with the knowledge of the leadership of the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. “It is only a matter of time before they (BRS) leaders come under the ambit of the investigation,” Mr Reddy said.

Several other Telangana police officers are being investigated in connection with this case.

The list of individuals whose devices were reportedly monitored include Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and members of the BJP and Congress, as well as those from KCR’s party.

Sources have said over one lakh phone calls were tapped.

Meanwhile, earlier today a Congress leader from Telangana’s Sircilla, KK Mahender Reddy, complained to Hyderabad top cop. He said he suspected his phone, and that of family members and associates, had been tapped. He asked the cops to issue a notice and question former minister and top BRS leader KT Rama Rao, who won the Assembly election from the region.

Hyderabad:

Former Telangana Intelligence Bureau chief T Prabhakhar Rao has been named as Accused No 1 in the phone-tapping case that has roiled the state ahead of a general election. 

Mr Rao – on whose order reams of electronic data gathered by illegally tapping the phones of opposition leaders during the earlier BRS government led by K Chandrashekar Rao – is reportedly in the United States. A look-out notice has been issued in his name.

Mr Rao’s home in Hyderabad have been searched, as have nearly a dozen other locations, including the residence of Shravan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel called I News.

Sharvan Rao – also believed to be out of the country – allegedly helped set up phone-tapping equipment (from Israel) and servers on the premises of a local school.

Another cop, Radha Kishan Rao – who was serving in the city task force – has also been named as an accused and a look-out notice has been issued for him as well.

Several other Telangana police officers are being investigated in connection with this case.

Three – Additional SPs Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, and Deputy SP Praneeth Rao – have already been arrested. The police said Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, arrested last week, had confessed to monitoring private persons illegally and destroying the evidence.

READ | Former Telangana Cop Arrested For Tapping Opposition Leaders’ Phones

Praneeth Rao was arrested earlier this month, and charged with developing profiles of unknown persons and monitoring their activity in an unauthorised manner, as well as destroying certain computer systems and data stored on electronic gadgets.

The evidence was reportedly destroyed on orders from Prabhakar Rao; the order was allegedly given a day after the Congress beat the BRS in the 2023 election. 

READ | Arrested Telangana Cop Said He Destroyed Intel On Boss’ Orders

The list of individuals whose devices were reportedly monitored include Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and members of the BJP and Congress, as well as those from ex-Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS. There are also reports that Telugu actors and businessmen were monitored too, and that many of them were blackmailed. 

Sources have said over one lakh phone calls were tapped.

Mr Reddy has vowed action and labelled Mr Rao a “present-day Qasim Rizi”. “Elements of the conspiracy are still under investigation, but there is a lot to come out…” he told NDTV.

Overall, at least 30 police officers are likely to be investigated as this can of worms is opened.

There are even rumours that a BRS leader could be implicated, which will turn the spotlight on the former Chief Minister’s party just days before a general election.

Telangana’s State Intelligence Bureau is supposed to keep tabs on left-wing extremism, but a team was reportedly gathering political intelligence and details of transactions made by opposition party leaders, sources have told NDTV.

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