Hyderabad:
Former Telangana Intelligence Bureau chief T Prabhakhar Rao has been named as Accused No 1 within the phone-tapping case that has roiled the state forward of a normal election.
Mr Rao – on whose order reams of digital knowledge is claimed to have been gathered by illegally tapping the telephones of opposition leaders throughout the earlier BRS authorities led by Okay Chandrashekar Rao – is reportedly within the United States. A glance-out discover has been issued in his identify.
Mr Rao’s dwelling in Hyderabad have been searched, as have almost a dozen different areas, together with the residence of Shravan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel known as I News.
Sharvan Rao – additionally believed to be overseas – allegedly helped arrange phone-tapping gear (from Israel) and servers on the premises of an area college.
Another cop, Radha Kishan Rao – who was serving within the metropolis activity power – has additionally been named as an accused and a look-out discover has been issued for him as properly.
Several different Telangana law enforcement officials are being investigated in reference to this case.
Three – Additional SPs Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, and Deputy SP Praneeth Rao – have already been arrested. The police mentioned Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, arrested final week, had confessed to monitoring personal individuals illegally and destroying the proof.
READ | Former Telangana Cop Arrested For Tapping Opposition Leaders’ Phones
Praneeth Rao was arrested earlier this month, and charged with creating profiles of unknown individuals and monitoring their exercise in an unauthorised method, in addition to destroying sure laptop programs and knowledge saved on digital devices.
The proof was reportedly destroyed on orders from Prabhakar Rao; the order was allegedly given a day after the Congress beat the BRS within the 2023 election.
READ | Arrested Telangana Cop Said He Destroyed Intel On Boss’ Orders
The listing of people whose units have been reportedly monitored embrace Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and members of the BJP and Congress, in addition to these from ex-Chief Minister Okay Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS. There are additionally studies that Telugu actors and businessmen have been monitored too, and that a lot of them have been blackmailed.
Sources have mentioned over one lakh telephone calls have been tapped.
Mr Reddy has vowed motion 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 instructed NDTV.
Overall, no less than 30 law enforcement officials are more likely to be investigated as this will of worms is opened.
There are even rumours {that a} BRS chief could possibly be implicated, which can flip the highlight on the previous Chief Minister’s celebration simply days earlier than a normal election.
Telangana’s State Intelligence Bureau is meant to maintain tabs on left-wing extremism, however a workforce was reportedly gathering political intelligence and particulars of transactions made by opposition celebration leaders, sources have instructed NDTV.
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