A city court in Hyderabad granted interim bail for 15 days to suspended Additional SP N Bhujanga Rao on Monday. He was given bail on health grounds as he sought treatment for a cardiac condition.
Bhujanga Rao is one of four police officers accused in a phone-tapping case. He was named the second accused and allegedly destroyed certain computer systems and official data related to the case. The case involves the alleged tapping of phones belonging to politicians, businessmen, celebrities, and even some judges during the BRS government.
The issue of phone-tapping came to light after the BRS lost power to the Congress. An official in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), who was involved in the operation, was found destroying the collected data. In March, the Punjagutta police registered a case after a petition was filed by additional SP D Ramesh from SIB.
Former DSP Praneeth Rao was also arrested for allegedly destroying hard disks and other data after the Congress gained power in December last year. The police later arrested Bhujanga Rao, Tirupathanna, and former DCP P Radhakishan Rao.
The former chief of SIB, T Prabhakar Rao, who is the main accused, denied the allegations against him. He is currently in the US and cited multiple health problems as the reason for delaying his return to India. He assured the police that he would cooperate fully with the investigation and answer all queries in person once his health improves and he returns to India.
