Why has the BRS phone tapping case prompted the SIT to summon Telangana CM’s brother Kondal Reddy as a witness?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Kondal Reddy summoned as a witness in phone tapping case.
- The SIT is investigating political surveillance under BRS rule.
- Multiple political figures involved, raising accountability concerns.
- Scheduled report submission to Supreme Court on January 16.
- Widespread surveillance operation revealed, targeting various individuals.
Hyderabad, Jan 7 (NationPress) The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is investigating the phone tapping case in Telangana, has called upon Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s sibling Kondal Reddy to appear as a witness.
Kondal Reddy is scheduled to meet with SIT officials at the Jubilee Hills Police Station at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
He was reportedly one of the individuals whose phones were suspected to have been tapped during the tenure of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the state. At that time, Revanth Reddy served as the president of the Telangana Congress.
Additionally, the SIT has sent notices to two more BRS leaders for questioning. Former MLAs G. Jaipal Yadav and Chirumurathi Lingaiah are also expected to appear on Thursday.
This marks the second time these two BRS leaders have been summoned. Both had attended a prior questioning session with the SIT in November 2024.
They were allegedly in contact with Mekala Thirupathanna, a suspended Additional Superintendent of Police, who is implicated in the case.
The SIT had also summoned K. Naveen Rao's father, Kondal Rao, and Madhavaram Krishna Rao's son, Sandeep Rao, on Wednesday. However, they did not attend the questioning.
Kondal Rao informed the SIT that he could not appear due to health issues and proposed to record his statement at home.
The phone communications of both Kondal Rao and Sandeep Rao were reportedly monitored. Additionally, the phones of dissenters within the ruling BRS were also allegedly tapped.
MLC Naveen Rao had appeared before the SIT on January 4, where he was interrogated for nearly eight hours.
Last month, the SIT interrogated former Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief T. Prabhakar Rao, the main accused in the phone tapping scandal.
This former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer was questioned for two weeks following a Supreme Court order for his surrender and was released on December 26.
The SIT plans to submit its findings regarding Rao’s custodial interrogation to the Supreme Court on January 16.
The nine-member SIT, established by the Telangana government on December 18, has already questioned Prabhakar Rao.
The phone tapping case first came to light in March 2024, with Deputy Superintendent of Police D. Praneeth Rao being the first person arrested.
Further investigations uncovered a widespread surveillance operation targeting a variety of individuals, including political rivals, businessmen, journalists, and even judges.
The police have identified six individuals as accused in the case, which includes former SIB chief Prabhakar Rao, DSP Praneeth Rao, Additional SPs Thirupathanna and N. Bhujanga Rao, as well as former DCP Radha Kishan Rao and Sravan Kumar, a media channel owner.