Senior police officer T Prabhakar Rao, who is on the run, named in the chargesheet
Over 1,200 phones were tapped and the accused, some of them top police officers, tried to destroy evidence by damaging storage devices, Hyderabad police has said in its chargesheet in the Telangana phone tapping case that has raised a political storm.
No leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which was in power in Telangana at the time, has been named in the chargesheet.
The accused include Deputy Superintendent of Police D Praneeth Rao, Additional Superintendents Bhujanga Rao and Tirupathanna, former Deputy Commissioner of Police (task force) Radha Kishan Rao and two fugitives -- former Special Intelligence Branch chief Prabhakar Rao and Sravan Kumar, senior employee in a local media organisation.
The phone tapping case came to light after the Congress government led by A Revanth Reddy took charge last year and sparked a massive row when investigators found that the phones of several high-profile people, including Opposition leaders and celebrities, were tapped during the earlier regime of BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao.
In explosive revelations during questioning, P Radha kishan Rao, a former Deputy Commissioner of Police, told police that devices of media bigwigs and politicians (including those from BRS) were hacked and monitored. This was allegedly done by a team formed before the November election to keep tabs on KCR's political rivals. Mr Rao said real estate businesspersons were also snooped upon. Among those tracked was current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Congress leader N Uttam Kumar Reddy earlier told NDTV that the alleged snooping happened with the knowledge of the BRS leadership. "It is only a matter of time before they (BRS) leaders come under the ambit of the investigation," Mr Reddy said.
With the filing of the chargesheet, Hyderabad police may now secure a red corner notice for fugitives Prabhakar Rao and Sravan Kumar.
According to the chargesheet, police have invoked Section 166 of IPC -- disobedience by a public servant -- besides the earlier sections relating to conspiracy, evidence tampering, violations of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, cyberterrorism, and charges under Information Technology Act.
The case in this connection was registered on March 10, so the Hyderabad cops have met the requirement to file the chargesheet within 90 days.