Hyderabad, Jan 23 (NationPress) The Telangana Police Officers' Association has strongly criticized the statements made by the former minister and BRS leader T. Harish Rao regarding police officials.

The Association emphasized on Friday that his remarks about the Telangana police department are entirely false, baseless, malicious, and illegal.

In a cautionary statement, Harish Rao claimed that individuals abusing their authority will face consequences in the future, even post-retirement.

This warning came in response to a notice given to BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) concerning a phone-tapping incident.

Rao accused the police of acting under the influence of their political superiors.

“The Congress party is manipulating the SIT to target BRS leaders as part of a political vendetta. Certain police officials are overstepping legal boundaries to please their Congress leadership,” Harish Rao remarked.

The Police Officers’ Association demanded that Harish Rao retract his statements against senior police officers and issue a public apology to the Telangana Police Department without delay.

Additionally, the Association warned that failure to withdraw his comments and to apologize would lead to all necessary legal actions (both civil and criminal) against him due to the harm caused to the police department's reputation and the obstruction of judicial processes.

President of the Police Officers’ Association, Y. Gopi Reddy, stated that the comments were intended to damage the police department's reputation and erode public trust.

He reiterated that during investigations, the investigating officer possesses the full legal authority to gather evidence, assess it, and summon individuals for questioning at any necessary moment. Police officers execute their duties according to laws like BNSS, BNS, and BSA, without any political bias. The ultimate responsibility for determining the truth in any legal matter lies solely with the courts, he added.

“Issuing unfounded, reckless, and derogatory remarks about investigating officers during an ongoing investigation is deemed an attempt to sway the judicial process and constitutes a direct threat to the investigating officers. We firmly declare that such statements are not only illegal but also a punishable offense,” he noted.

In a related matter, Congress MLC Balmoor Venkat filed a complaint with the Director General of Police (DGP), alleging that former ministers K.T. Rama Rao and Harish Rao are trying to intimidate officials involved in the phone tapping investigation.

Venkat claimed that the two leaders are threatening SIT officials and making comments intended to instill fear among investigators, thereby attempting to manipulate the investigation's direction.

He stated that he had submitted a complaint along with supporting evidence to the Additional DGP, requesting immediate legal action.