Former Top Cop Questioned In Telangana Phone-Tapping Row

A former DCP of the Commissioner’s Task Force, a wing of Hyderabad Police, and another police official were questioned by the police in connection with a case of phone tapping and destroying certain computer systems and official data.

“They are being interrogated,” a senior police official told PTI on Thursday, amid reports of their arrest.

On March 23, two additional superintendents of police, who were accused of colluding with suspended DSP of the SIB D Praneeth Rao, were arrested.

Praneeth Rao was accused of erasing the intelligence information from various electronic gadgets as well as phone tapping during the previous BRS government.

On March 13, Praneeth Rao, accused of developing profiles of several persons and monitoring them clandestinely, without authorisation and illegally, besides destroying certain computer systems and official data, was arrested.

As part of investigation into the case, the police had recently issued a lookout circular (LOC) against former SIB chief T Prabhakar Rao and then deputy commissioner of police at the Commissioner’s Task Force P Radhakrishna and a senior executive of a Telugu TV channel.

The lookout circular was issued against them as they were not available for investigation in the case and were allegedly not cooperating, police had said, adding they are suspected to have gone abroad.

Praneeth Rao was recently suspended by the Telangana government. He was a DSP during the previous BRS dispensation and was subsequently working in the office of the Director General of Police (DGP). He was earlier accused of tapping phones of opposition party leaders.

Based on a complaint filed by an additional superintendent of police of the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) on March 10, a case was registered against Praneeth Rao and others at Panjagutta police station here on charges of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, causing disappearance of evidence, and criminal conspiracy and other sections of IPC, PDPP Act and IT Act-2000.

The case was registered against them for allegedly destroying certain computer systems and official data of the SIB, including those obtained by him clandestinely and illegally in collusion with others with an intention to make wrongful gain, the police had said.

They were also accused of developing profiles of some persons and monitoring them, causing disappearance of physical and electronic records of the SIB, and copying intelligence information into personal drives, police said.