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 the US. A glance-out discover has been issued in his title.

Mr Rao’s house in Hyderabad have been searched, as have practically 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 tools (from Israel) and servers on the premises of an area 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 nicely.

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 creating profiles of unknown individuals and monitoring their exercise in an unauthorised method, in addition to destroying sure laptop techniques 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 Stated He Destroyed Intel On Boss’ Orders

The record of people whose gadgets have 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 stories that Telugu actors and businessmen have been monitored too, and that a lot of them have been blackmailed. 

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

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

Total, a minimum of 30 cops are prone to be investigated as this could of worms is opened.

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

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

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