Telangana ex-cop makes sensational revelations in phone tapping case

Hyderabad: Several opposition leaders, including then Congress MP and present Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, dissidents within the then ruling party, businesspersons, and journalists were among the targets of phone tapping under the previous BRS government in the state, a former state police officer and accused in the snooping case, has revealed.

Former Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Radha Kishan Rao made some sensational disclosures in his reported confession before the investigating officials.

He claimed T. Prabhakar Rao, then chief of the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), was in charge of the entire operation aimed at gathering data on anyone who seemed to be a threat to the then Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government led by K. Chandrasekhar Rao. The operation was also conducted before the November 2023 Assembly elections and a tab was also put on the dissidents within the then ruling party.

The phone tapping and snooping row came to light after the BRS lost power to Congress and an official in the SIB, who was part of the operation, was found destroying the collected data.

Radha Kishan Rao, who was arrested in March, revealed the details of the operation during his confession statement in April.

He revealed that once an individual was flagged, the SIB’s deputy chief, Praneeth Kumar, was reportedly tasked with creating profiles to neutralise potential threats to the government.

The former police official reportedly revealed that the operation not only targeted politicians but also snooped on businesspersons in real estate and construction sectors to know their affiliations.

As political leaders, bureaucrats, members of the judiciary, and others avoided direct phone calls following rumours of phone tapping and, instead, used encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp, Snapchat and Signal, Prabhakar Rao and his group allegedly tracked communications over internet calls by acquiring and examining Internet Protocol Data Records (IPDRs).

The ex-DCP also claimed that iNews journalist Sravan Kumar had a meeting with Prabhakar Rao allegedly at the request of then-minister and senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao. Sravan Kumar allegedly sent information about opposition leaders and their financial backers to the Intelligence Bureau and the same was used to target rivals during a cash seizure operation.