The Hyderabad Police have arrested two additional superintendents of police (ASP) in connection with a phone tapping case that has rocked Telangana. A look out notice has also been issued against former state intelligence bureau chief T Prabhakar Rao and two others for not being present during probe and alleged non-cooperation, PTI reported. According to an NDTV report, Rao, who is believed to be in the US, has been named as accused No.1 in the case.
According to the report, additional deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Thirupathanna and additional superintendent of Police N Bhujanga Rao, who were arrested, worked as ASPs in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) and Intelligence Department respectively. They were sent to judicial custody on Sunday.
READ | Two more Telangana cops accused of destroying official data, phone tapping arrested
The lookout notice has also been issued against then deputy commissioner of police of Commissioner’s Task Force (a wing of Hyderabad Police) P Radhakrishna and a senior executive of a Telugu TV channel.
What is the Telangana phone tapping case?
According to the Telangana Police, both the arrested ASPs allegedly colluded with suspended state intelligence bureau (SIB) deputy superintendent of police (DSP) D Praneeth Rao.
Rao was earlier arrested for allegedly erasing the intelligence information from various electronic gadgets as well as for alleged phone tapping during the previous BRS government.
A Hyderabad Police statement said that the two arrested police officials confessed to alleged involvement in conspiracy to monitor private persons illegally by developing their profiles, abusing their official positions; to cause disappearance of evidence by destroying public property to conceal their involvement in collusion with the already arrested D Praneeth Kumar alias Praneeth Rao and some other persons”.
READ | Suspended Hyderabad DSP held in phone-tapping case
Praneeth Rao is accused of developing profiles of unknown persons and monitoring them clandestinely, without authorisation and illegally, besides destroying certain computer systems and official data.
He was recently suspended by the Telangana government led by Revanth Reddy. Rao was a DSP during the previous K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS dispensation and was subsequently working in the office of the Director General of Police (DGP).
He was earlier accused of tapping phones of opposition party leaders. Based on a complaint filed by an additional superintendent of police of the SIB on March 10, a case was registered against Praneeth Rao and others at Panjagutta police station here on charges of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, causing disappearance of evidence, and criminal conspiracy and other sections of IPC, PDPP Act and IT Act-2000.
The case was registered against them for allegedly destroying certain computer systems and official data of the SIB, including those obtained by him clandestinely and illegally in collusion with others with an intention to make wrongful gain, the police had said.
They were also accused of developing profiles of some persons and monitoring them, causing disappearance of physical and electronic records of the SIB, and copying intelligence information into personal drives, police added.