In a surprising discovery, over 4,500 phones were tapped in just 15 days by the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB). This was part of an illegal phone tapping operation. These details emerged during a court hearing for Mekala Tirupatanna, the fourth accused in the case. The Public Prosecutor informed the High Court that the phone tapping took place between November 15 and November 30, during the election period.
The tapped phones were mostly from BSNL, Vodafone, and Jio networks. It was also revealed that records of hundreds of Airtel phone taps had been destroyed by the accused. During the investigation, the police found about 340 GB of data linked to the tapping of calls from political leaders, including Revanth Reddy, and well-known business figures.
Hyderabad police have already filed charges in the case but are preparing to submit additional charges soon. Authorities are also trying to bring back two key suspects, Prabhakar Rao and Shravan, who are currently abroad. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked Interpol to issue Red Corner Notices against them to help with their extradition.
Police believe that once the accused are brought back, more details about the phone tapping operation will come to light. They hope to gather this information before filing the supplementary charge sheet in court.
