Hyderabad: The Telangana Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Monday, January 19, issued a notice to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Harish Rao to appear before the Jubilee Hills Police Station in Hyderabad on Tuesday, January 20, in connection with a phone tapping case in which the then K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)-led BRS government has been accused of using police machinery to monitor the phone conversations of Opposition leaders during the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections.
Harish Rao, the Siddipet MLA, will have to appear before the police at 11 am on Tuesday, a letter by the P Venkatagiri, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Jubilee Hills division, said. The nine-member SIT, comprising senior officers, is headed by Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar.
The summons came after the Supreme Court on January 5 dismissed a petition filed by the Telangana government against Harish Rao, challenging the first information report (FIR) filed against him in the case. The top court declined to intervene in the orders given by the Telangana High Court, which ruled in his favour, even as it declined to overturn the high court’s decisions.
Responding to the notice issued to Harish Rao, former minister S Niranjan Reddy alleged that the Congress government is misusing power and harassing BRS leaders.
Alleging that the police machinery is dancing to the tunes of the Congress government, he claimed in a release that police officials will have to pay a price in future for their action.
Former Telangana intelligence chief T Prabhakar Rao, the prime accused in the case, was earlier questioned by the SIT.
What is the phone tapping case?
The case began after Siddipet resident Chakradhar Goud filed a complaint with the Punjagutta Police, alleging that his phone was tapped by Harish Rao with the involvement of then DCP Radha Kishan Rao. Following the complaint, the police registered an FIR.
It was part of a larger case where the then BRS government was accused of running a secret intelligence unit to profile over 600 people, including the politicians, judges, actors, and other rivals.
Over 1 lakh phone calls were allegedly e tapped. Those who were reportedly monitored included Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, members of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and even some BRS leaders.
The unit also allegedly used this data to extort crores of rupees from local businessmen. When the government changed, a criminal case was registered, and the officers panicked, destroying 17 hard drives and dumping them into the Musi river to bury the evidence.
