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Hyderabad:
The snooping case that has erupted in Telangana – which could become a big issue in this month’s Lok Sabha election – witnessed further revelations after one of the arrested police officers – Radhakrishna Rao – claimed cash was moved in official vehicles in the 2018 and 2023 Assembly polls.
He gave the Dubbak and Munugode by-polls as examples, and said Rs 3.5 crore had been confiscated from Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy ahead of the latter election. Mr Reddy contested the 2022 Munugode by-poll on a BJP ticket, and lost to the BRS’ Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy.
He then jumped to the Congress for the 2023 election and won the seat.
The Dubbak by-poll in 2020 saw the BJP’s Raghunandan Rao beat the BRS’ Solipeta Reddy. According to Radhakrishna Rao, Rs 1 crore was seized from the former based on intercepted phone calls.
In 2023 Mr Rao lost the seat to the BRS’ Kotha Prabhakar Reddy.
The arrested police officer, Radhakrishna Rao, said “officials involved spoke about ensuring BRS (earlier called Telangana Rashtra Samithi) continued in power”.
READ | 4th Cop Arrested In Telangana Phone-Tap Case, Accused No 1 In US
Mr Rao was Deputy Commissioner of Police in the task force led by former top cop T Prabhakar Rao, who has been named as the primary accused, against whom a look-out notice has been issued. He is presently in the United States, but sources told NDTV he is expected to join the investigation soon.
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Mr Rao, who was also Chief Security Officer to the former Chief Minister – K Chandrashekar Rao, or KCR, reportedly told investigating authorities he acted on Prabhakar Rao’s instructions.
Radhakrishna Rao was arrested – he too had faced a look-out notice – after being questioned at a police station in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills.
In the remand report presented by the authorities, Mr Rao provided examples of specific seizures and, significantly, claimed he had spied on opposition leaders on the orders of a member of KCR’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which has dominated Telangana politics since the state was formed in 2014.
READ | Arrested Telangana Cop Said He Destroyed Intel On Boss’ Orders
The BRS, however, was beaten by the Congress in last year’s Assembly election.
The Telangana phone-tapping case involves gathering electronic data not just for political intelligence, but to blackmail leaders, and even private companies and Tollywood celebrities.
Congress leader N Uttam Kumar Reddy told NDTV all this happened with the knowledge of the leadership of the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. “It is only a matter of time before they (BRS) leaders come under the ambit of the investigation,” Mr Reddy said.
READ | KCR Must Be Accused No 1 In Phone Tap Row: BJP Leader To NDTV
Several other Telangana police officers are being investigated in connection with this case.
Three others – Additional Superintendents of Police (SP) Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, and Deputy SP Praneeth Rao – have already been arrested. The police said Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, arrested last week, had admitted to monitoring private individuals illegally and destroying the evidence.
The list of individuals whose devices were reportedly monitored include Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and members of the BJP and Congress, as well as those from KCR’s party.
Sources have said over one lakh phone calls were tapped.
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