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 information gathered by illegally tapping the telephones of opposition leaders through the earlier BRS authorities led by Okay Chandrashekar Rao – is reportedly in america. 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 places, together with the residence of Shravan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel referred to as I Information.

Sharvan Rao – additionally believed to be in another country – allegedly helped arrange phone-tapping gear (from Israel) and servers on the premises of a neighborhood faculty.

One other cop, Radha Kishan Rao – who was serving within the metropolis process drive – has additionally been named as an accused and a look-out discover has been issued for him as effectively.

A number of different Telangana cops are being investigated in reference to this case.

Three – Further 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’ Telephones

Praneeth Rao was arrested earlier this month, and charged with growing profiles of unknown individuals and monitoring their exercise in an unauthorised method, in addition to destroying sure pc programs and information 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 Mentioned He Destroyed Intel On Boss’ Orders

The listing of people whose gadgets had 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 reviews that Telugu actors and businessmen had been monitored too, and that a lot of them had been blackmailed. 

Sources have mentioned over one lakh telephone calls had been tapped.

Mr Reddy has vowed motion and labelled Mr Rao a “present-day Qasim Rizi”. “Components of the conspiracy are nonetheless underneath investigation, however there’s a lot to return out…” he advised NDTV.

General, at the very least 30 cops are more likely to be investigated as this could of worms is opened.

There are even rumours {that a} BRS chief may very well be implicated, which can flip the highlight on the previous Chief Minister’s social gathering simply days earlier than a normal election.

Telangana’s State Intelligence Bureau is meant to maintain tabs on left-wing extremism, however a staff was reportedly gathering political intelligence and particulars of transactions made by opposition social gathering leaders, sources have advised NDTV.

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