KCR should be charged as number one in phone hacking case: BJP leader tells NDTV

Hyderabad::

A Telangana BJP leader has demanded that former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao be named as the first accused in the phone hacking case, his Bharat Rao The Bharat Rashtra Samithi is facing serious doubts. BJP leader Raghunandan Rao, a former MP and now candidate from the Medak Lok Sabha seat, has written to the state police on the matter , mentioned that he was also a target.

In an exclusive interview with New Delhi TV, he said the Chief Justice of India should take notice as even judges’ phones were tapped.

Three senior police officers have been arrested and the former director of the National Intelligence Service is wanted for allegedly tapping the phones of then-opposition leaders, celebrities and businessmen. The list includes Congress MP Revanth Reddy, who is now the chief minister.

According to reports, former director of the National Intelligence Agency T Prabhakar Rao is currently in the United States and a lookout notice has been issued against him. Another wanted man is Shravan Rao, who runs a Telugu television channel called “I News” and allegedly helped install phone-tapping equipment from Israel. He is believed to have left the country.

Raghunandan Rao, in a letter to the state police chief, said he had complained that his phone was tapped after he won the Dubbak bypoll in December 2020.

Arrested DSP Praneeth Rao claimed that he confessed to tapping phone calls during the elections in Dubbak, Huzurabad and Munugod.

The confession was handed over to the judicial magistrate under seal but the BJP leader said he was aware of the contents.

Chief Minister Reddy and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu were the first victims in 2015. In the same year, Mr Reddy was arrested for allegedly trying to bribe Raghunandan Rao of Rs 50 lakh in a ticket scam, he said.

Sources said more than one lakh phones were allegedly tapped on the orders of the former chief minister.

His successor, Mr Reddy, has vowed to take action. “The specifics of the conspiracy are still under investigation, but there are many clues to be uncovered…,” he told New Delhi TV.