Hyderabad:

Phones of about 1,200 people, including political rivals, their family members and supporters, judges, journalists, and business persons were tapped by a special team in Telangana’s Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) under the previous BRS government, according to a suspended police officer and a key accused in the sensational phone tapping case.

D. Praneeth Rao, who headed the Special Operations Team in the SIB under the supervision of then SIB chief Prabhakar Rao, made some sensational revelations in his confession before the investigating officials.

He revealed that ahead of the November 2023 Assembly elections, the team snooped on leaders of opposition parties, and their funders and intercepted the vehicles transferring money.

The confession of Praneeth Rao, a Deputy Superintendent of Police in the SIB, came to light after similar statements of former Deputy Commissioner of Police Radha Kishan Rao and Additional Superintendents of Police N. Bhujanga Rao and M. Thirupathanna.

Praneeth Rao revealed that they prepared profiles of political rivals of the BRS with the help of a technological tool, provided by a private company.

Praneeth Rao, the first to be arrested in the case which came to light in March after the Congress formed the government, stated that 17 computers and special servers were used for phone tapping. As many as 56 personnel of the SOT were used for the operation.

He reportedly confessed to doing certain unofficial works as he was indebted to Prabhakar Rao for promoting him as DSP. He was operating from two rooms allotted to him next to Prabhakar Rao’s chamber in the SIB office.

Before the 2023 Assembly elections, the team also tapped the phones of candidates of rival parties and seized money from their funders, relatives and aides. The information was passed on to police officials Radha Kishan Rao, Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna so they could intercept the money. The seized money was shown as hawala money so that the Election Commission did not get suspicious about the seizures.

Praneeth Rao also revealed that the phones of dissidents within the ruling party were also tapped. He also confessed that after Congress came to power, Prabhakar Rao directed him to stop phone tapping and also allegedly directed him to destroy records before his resignation. He claimed that 50 hard discs were destroyed with a cutter in the SIB office and old servers were replaced with new ones.

When he wanted to switch off CCTV cameras in the logger room before destroying the hard discs, the in charge of CCTV cameras refused to give permission but he told him that Prabhakar Rao had given the orders and warned that if the in charge failed to obey, a memo would be issued.

Praneeth Rao stated that he destroyed the evidence between 7.30 p.m. and 8.15 p.m. on December 4, 2023. He dumped the destroyed CDs in the Musi River at Nagole and Moosaram Bagh. The CDR and IDPR equipment was burnt down. Reformatted phones and pen drivers were thrown in the Begumpet nala.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

In an explosive revelation in the Telangana phone tapping and snooping row, ex-Deputy Commissioner of Police P Radhakrishna Rao has claimed devices belonging to media industry bigwigs, retired cops, and politicians (including from then-ruling BRS) were hacked and monitored.

This was allegedly part of a well-funded and secretive team set up before the November state election to keep tabs on then Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s political rivals. The snooping operation was supposed to create a dossier to manage possible threats; in a twist, Mr Rao’s BRS was thumped by the Congress anyway, winning only 39 (down from 88 in 2018) of the state’s 119 seats.

Arrested on March 29 from his home in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills, Mr Rao has reportedly admitted to former colleagues that he was part of this alleged illegal enterprise, which may have snooped on a prominent people, including media personalities Narendra Choudary of NTV and Vemuri Radhakrishna of ABN, retired police officer RS Praveen Kumar, sitting Warangal MP Kadiyam Srihari, and former BRS minister Patnam Mahender Reddy and his wife, Sunita Reddy. Patnam Mahender Reddy has now shifted to the Congress and was the party’s candidate for the Malkajgiri seat in the 2024 election.

Opposition party leaders – such as the Congress’ Saritha Thirupathaiah, who contested and lost the Gadwal Assembly seat last year to the BRS’ BK Mohan Reddy – were reportedly also targeted.

Radhakrishna Rao reportedly also claimed T Prabhakar Rao, then chief of the Special Intelligence Bureau, was in charge of the op, which gathered data on anyone who seemed to be a threat to the then-ruling BRS. Once an individual was flagged, the Intelligence Bureau’s deputy chief, Praneeth Kumar, was reportedly tasked with creating profiles to manage possible ‘threats’ to the BRS’ hold on power.

The alleged snooping did not only target political leaders or public figures. Mr Rao said businesspersons in the real estate and construction industries were also tracked to establish their affiliations.

As rumours of the snooping spread, bureaucrats, members of judiciary, and political figures avoided direct phone calls and, instead, used encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal.

READ | Ex-Intel Bureau Chief Is Accused No 1 In Phone-Tapping Row

In response, Prabhakar Rao and his group allegedly tracked communications over internet calls by acquiring and examining Internet Protocol Data Records (IPDRs). This has now triggered fresh moral and legal concerns over the use of public resources and technology for personal or political gain.

One particularly unsettling aspect concerned iNews journalist Sravan Kumar.

According to Mr Rao, Mr Kumar spoke directly T Prabhakar Rao during the state election in October and November last year; this meeting is said to have been at the request of the T Harish Rao, a BRS leader who was then a member of the cabinet and is nephew of ex-Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Information about opposition leaders and their financial backers was reportedly sent to the Intelligence Bureau via Mr Kumar, and this was used to target rivals during cash seizure ops. Mr Kumar reportedly also helped Praneeth Kumar wage trolling campaigns against the BRS’ detractors.

Radhakrishna Rao made other startling claims in April.

READ | Senior Cop Arrested In Telangana Phone Tap Row Makes Big Claim

He alleged cash had been moved in official vehicles in the 2018 and 2023 Assembly polls, and gave the Munugode by-poll as an example. He claimed Rs 3.5 crore had been confiscated from people linked to Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy, who contested the by-poll on a BJP ticket. He lost to the BRS’ KP Reddy but then jumped to the Congress for the 2023 election and won the seat.

The Telangana phone-tapping case involves the alleged gathering of 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.

READ | Those Involved In Phone-Tapping Will Be Jailed, Warns Revanth Reddy

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

The list of individuals whose devices were reportedly monitored include Congress leader and current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. As many as one lakh phone calls were reportedly tapped.

Hyderabad:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has used the Telangana phone tapping row to launch a two-pronged attack on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha election. Addressing a rally in Telangana’s Rangrareddy district yesterday, Mr Gandhi said, “What your former Chief Minister (K Chandrashekar Rao) did here, the Prime Minister and the BJP is doing in Delhi, Enforcement Directorate has become Extortion Directorate.”

Mr Gandhi’s remarks on the central agency are part of the Opposition’s charge at the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of misusing probe agencies for political objectives. Leaders of the INDIA bloc hit out at the Centre on this issue during a rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest in a money laundering case.   

The KCR-led BRS government is at the centre of a massive controversy in the wake of allegations that senior police officers tapped the phones of Opposition leaders, including current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and several celebrities and businessmen.

Several senior police officers have been arrested after Mr Reddy ordered an investigation into the matter. It is also alleged that surveillance of businessmen was used to blackmail them into contributing to the BRS party fund.

The Congress and the BJP have hit out at the BRS as the shocking allegations come to the fore.

Former minister and KCR’s son KT Rama Rao has suggested that if any phone-tapping occurred, it may have been limited to a few troublemakers or criminals. The Congress, he said, was “exaggerating it as an international scam”, he said at a party meeting.

This drew a sharp response from the Chief Minister, who said KTR was “shamelessly admitting” to tapping phones and called for accountability.

BJP MP from Telangana and Union minister G Kishan Reddy has said the Election Commission should rethink BRS’ recognition in the light of the allegations. “This is not an ordinary case. It is a very serious matter. This is not only a political vindictive action and not just a phone tapping matter for political benefit. But, a violation of personal privacy, respect of individuals and concerned rules had happened,” he told reporters here.

The 17 seats of Telangana are voting in a single phase on May 13. In the 2019 elections, the BRS had won nine seats, the BJP four, the Congress three and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM one. With the Congress coming to power with a thumping win in the state polls last year, the party is looking to up its tally this general election.

In his address in Rangareddy, Mr Gandhi said “everyone in Telangana knows that Congress is fulfilling promises”. “The unemployment in the country is the highest in 40 years, but the Telangana government has given government jobs to 30,000 people and 50,000 more people will get jobs,” he said.

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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