T Prabhakar Rao, the ex-chief of Telangana’s Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), has been named as the main suspect in a phone-tapping controversy causing a stir in the state before the upcoming general election. Allegations suggest he failed to “draw the line” when executing orders from the ruling party.

Rao - on whose order reams of electronic data is said to have been gathered by illegally tapping the phones of opposition leaders during the earlier BRS government led by K Chandrashekar Rao - is reportedly in the United States. A look-out notice has been issued in his name.

Searches have been conducted at Mr. Rao's residence in Hyderabad, along with nearly a dozen other places, including the home of Shravan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel called I News.

Shravan Rao, believed to be abroad, is accused of assisting in the installation of phone-tapping equipment (from Israel) and servers at a local school.

Another police officer, Radha Kishan Rao, who previously served in the city task force, has also been implicated, leading authorities to issue a lookout notice for him. Several other Telangana police officers are also being investigated in connection with the case.

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

Three - Additional SPs Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, and Deputy SP Praneeth Rao - have already been arrested. The police said Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, arrested last week, had confessed to monitoring private persons illegally and destroying the evidence.

While Praneeth Rao, arrested earlier this month, faces charges of unauthorised profiling of individuals and monitoring their activities, as well as the destruction of computer systems and data on electronic devices.

The destruction of evidence was reportedly ordered by Prabhakar Rao, allegedly following the Congress’s victory over the BRS in the 2023 election.

The list of individuals allegedly under surveillance includes Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, members of the BJP and Congress, and associates of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's BRS. Additionally, there are allegations of surveillance targeting Telugu actors and businessmen, with reports suggesting incidents of blackmail.

According to sources, over one lakh phone calls were tapped.

At least 30 police officers are expected to be investigated as the case unfolds, with rumours circulating that a BRS leader could also be implicated, potentially casting scrutiny on the former Chief Minister’s party just days before the general election.

Image source: NDTV