A suspended police officer has made explosive revelations about the extent of phone tapping carried out by a special team in Telangana's Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) under the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government.
Ex-DCP Praneeth Rao, who headed the Special Operations Team in the SIB, confessed to investigating officials that the team snooped on over 1,200 people, including political rivals, their family members, and supporters, judges, journalists, and business persons.
The surveillance, which took place ahead of the November 2023 Assembly elections, targeted leaders of opposition parties, their funders, and even intercepted vehicles transferring money.
According to Praneeth Rao, the team used a technological tool provided by a private company to prepare profiles of political rivals of the BRS, as reported by news agency IANS. He revealed that 17 computers and special servers were used for phone tapping, and 56 personnel were involved in the operation.
Praneeth Rao, who was arrested in March, claimed that he was indebted to his superior, Prabhakar Rao, for promoting him as DSP and carried out unofficial works as a result.
Praneeth Rao also revealed that the phones of dissidents within the ruling party were also tapped. He also confessed that after Congress came to power, Prabhakar Rao directed him to stop phone tapping and also allegedly directed him to destroy records before his resignation. He claimed that 50 hard discs were destroyed with a cutter in the SIB office and old servers were replaced with new ones.
The investigation has already led to the arrest of several key figures, including Praneeth Rao, Additional Superintendent of Police Bhujanga Rao, and senior police officer Tirupathanna.
