The shocking claims that state police officers bugged the phones of opposition leaders, including current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, celebrities, and businessmen, raise serious concerns for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by K Chandrashekar Rao.
It is also purported that the surveillance was employed as a form of blackmail to force businessmen to make large payments to the BRS party fund.
The BRS has not yet responded to the claims.
In this regard, a lookout notice has been issued for T Prabhakar Rao, the former head of the State Intelligence Bureau, who is purportedly currently in the United States, and three senior police officers have been arrested.
According to the police, two senior officers, Additional Superintendents of Police Thirupathanna and Bhujanga Rao, have acknowledged engaging in unlawful surveillance and destroying evidence.
Ravi Paul, a technical consultant for the state intelligence bureau under the previous BRS government, is said to have assisted in the importation and installation of phone-tapping devices close to Mr. Reddy’s home so that they could record his conversations.
According to the allegations, a software company was used as a front to import the equipment from Israel.
It has been learned that no authorization from the Center, which is required for these imports, was obtained. According to accounts, anyone speaking within 300 meters could be heard using this configuration. According to the allegations, Ravi Paul installed the device and set up an office close to Mr. Reddy’s house. He will be questioned by police regarding this. Radha Kishan Rao, a police officer with the city task force, and Sharvan Rao, the host of the Telugu TV channel I News, have also been placed under watch.
The opposition leaders were not the only ones under surveillance. Celebrities and prominent businessmen, such as jewelers and real estate brokers, were also being watched. According to reports, a celebrity couple’s divorce was actually caused by the tapping of their phone conversations.
To compound the problems facing the BRS, businessman and BJP leader Sharan Chaudhary has filed a complaint with Chief Minister Reddy, claiming that he was abducted by senior police officers last year and coerced into approving a piece of land for a relative of BRS leader and former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao.
Mr Chaudhury has alleged that Radha Kishan Rao and senior police officer ACP Umamaheswara Rao kidnapped him on August 21 while he was on his way to office. He has alleged that he was illegally detained and forced to register his property in the name of Vijay, a close relative of the minister. He was also forced to pay ₹ 50 lakh before they let him go.
The businessman has said he had approached the High Court after the incident, but Uma Maheshwar Rao threatened to file false cases against him and forced him to withdraw the petition.
