Senior police officer arrested in Telangana phone hacking incident makes major claims

Hyderabad:

The snooping case that broke out in Telangana is likely to become a big issue in next month’s Lok Sabha elections after an arrested police officer, Radhakrishna Rao, claimed that cash was stolen in 2018 and 2023 The matter further came to light after he was transferred in an official vehicle during the 2018 parliamentary election. .

According to the remand report filed by the police, the arrested police officer said that Praneeth Rao, Bhujanga Rao, Tirupatanna and Venugopal ·Venugopal Rao conspired under the then Director of National Intelligence T Prabhakar Rao to ensure that the BRS remained in power in Telangana.

Radhakrisha Rao reportedly cited the panchayat polls in Dubbak and Munugod as an example.

He said Rs 35 crore from people associated with Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy has been confiscated before the next elections. Mr. Reddy is contesting the 2022 by-elections on the ticket of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He lost to BRS’s Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy but jumped to Congress to contest the 2023 elections and won the seat.

In the 2020 Dubbak polls, BJP’s Raghunandan Rao defeated BRS’s Solipeta Reddy. According to Radhakrishna Rao, Rs 1 crore was confiscated from a cheap fund house operator with links to the BJP leader based on intercepted phone calls. In 2023, he lost the seat to BRS’s Kotha Prabhakar Reddy.

Arrested police officer Radhakrishna Rao said, “The officials concerned talked about ensuring that the BRS (earlier known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi) continues to be in power”.

Mr. Rao served as deputy commissioner of police for the city’s special task force. Since his retirement in August 2020, he has successfully obtained two extensions, each of three years.

However, he was moved before the elections by the complaints and suggestions of Sandeep Shandilya, who was arrested during the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct ahead of the assembly elections. Appointed as Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad.

T Prabhakar Rao was named as the main accused and faced a lookout notice. He is currently in the United States, but sources told New Delhi TV he is expected to join the investigation soon.

Mr Rao, who served as chief security officer to former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), reportedly told investigating authorities that he acted on the instructions of Prabhakar Rao.

Radhakrishna Rao, who was arrested after being questioned at a police station in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, has also been issued a surveillance warrant.

In the remand report filed by the authorities, Mr. Rao gave specific instances of seizure, notably that he claimed that he was acting as a member of the KCR’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi The group has been dominating Telangana politics since the state was formed in 2017. Year 2014.

However, BRS was defeated by the Congress in last year’s assembly elections.

The Telangana phone hacking case involved the collection of electronic data not just for political intelligence but also for blackmailing leaders and even private companies and Hollywood celebrities.

Congress leader N Uttam Kumar Reddy told NDTV that this all happened with the knowledge of the leadership of the former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. “It is only a matter of time before their (BRS) leaders are investigated,” Reddy said.

Several other Telangana police officers are being investigated in connection with the case.

The list of individuals whose devices were reportedly monitored includes Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress and members of the KCR party.

Sources said more than a hundred thousand phone calls were tapped.

Meanwhile, earlier today, Congress leader KK Mahender Reddy from Sirsila in Telangana lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad top police. He said he suspected his cell phones, as well as those of family members and colleagues, had been tapped. He asked the police to issue a notice and question former minister and BRS supremo KT Rama Rao, who won the assembly elections in the district.