In Hyderabad, 15 police officials are reportedly involved in an illegal phone tapping case. The investigating agency discovered that five inspectors and a group of retired police officials assisted D Praneeth Rao, a suspended deputy superintendent of police in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), in tapping the phones of opposition leaders.
According to officials involved in the investigation, Praneeth Rao operated a large room with a team of police officials, including retired officers. Ravi Pal, a technical advisor to the SIB, is currently being questioned in connection with the case. It is believed that he provided technological support to the team and is now under scrutiny.
Charges have been filed against Ravi Pal for importing equipment from Israel to record conversations without proper authorization from the Central government. However, the investigating team discovered that no permission was obtained for importing the devices.
After the arrest of Additional DCP CSW Thirupathanna and Additional SP N Bhujanga Rao, former chief of Telangana’s SIB T Prabhakar Rao has been summoned for questioning in the phone tapping case. Prabhakar Rao is currently abroad receiving cancer treatment, and will be issued a notice for questioning once he returns.
Praneeth Rao is accused of involvement in phone tapping, surveillance of opposition leaders, destruction of data on 42 hard drives, and replacing them with new ones. He has been charged under various sections of the IPC, as well as the Prevention of Destruction of Public Records Act (PDPP Act), 1984, and the Information Technology Act (ITA).
