Snoopgate: SIT grills KCR’s close aide

Hyderabad: KCR’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Rajasekhar Reddy was recently questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for around two hours in connection with the ongoing phone tapping investigation from the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime.

This investigation pertains to illegal surveillance and phone tapping of prominent politicians, judges, journalists and others during the BRS rule. The interrogation of Reddy is based on statements from an accused police officer, Radhakishan Rao, who, in his remand report, claimed that he and others operated under the directives of KCR. This has brought the case into sharper focus, as the SIT is examining allegations that the previous regime used police personnel to snoop on political rivals and others to benefit their party.

The case revealed that during the BRS regime, mobile phones of political leaders, including Telangana PCC president Revanth Reddy, a High Court judge and his family, and several others were subjected to illegal surveillance. The Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), led by former chief T Prabhakar Rao (now absconding), had formed a Special Operations Team that carried out this partisan political surveillance.

Accused officers obtained call detail records (CDRs), internet protocol detail records (IPDRs), and intercepted calls without authorisation, violating Indian laws.

The accused also allegedly destroyed evidence anticipating a governmental change. Several police officers have been arrested or suspended in connection with the case.

In summary, the SIT’s questioning of KCR’s OSD Rajasekhar Reddy is a significant development in the phone tapping scandal that exposes the alleged misuse of police intelligence resources for political surveillance during the previous BRS government.

This probe touches on serious violations involving unauthorized data interceptions targeting politicians, judiciary members, journalists and their families, underscoring politically motivated abuses of power in Telangana’s recent history.