Over 1,000 leaders targeted in Telugu States in phone tapping scandal

In a stunning revelation, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Telangana phone tapping scandal has found that over 1,000 political leaders across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were illegally surveilled during the previous BRS regime. Among them, as many as 650 Congress leaders from Telangana were reportedly targeted.

Sources said the illegal surveillance was aimed at monitoring not just opposition leaders, but also dissenters within the BRS party, along with political figures from Andhra Pradesh. Shockingly, the SIT uncovered that even the phones of PCC chief Y S Sharmila were tapped without any legal sanction.

The latest development in the high-profile case saw Telangana PCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud appear before the SIT on Tuesday. He is one of the victims of phone surveillance and reportedly shared with officials the difficulties and threats he faced due to the illegal tapping.

The phone tapping, believed to have been orchestrated as part of the BRS’s attempt to retain power for a third term, involved widespread and systematic surveillance. However, in the 2018 Telangana Assembly elections, the BRS was defeated, and the Congress party under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy came to power. The scandal surfaced soon after, prompting the Congress government to form an SIT to probe the matter.

At the center of the scandal is former IPS officer Prabhakar Rao, who allegedly masterminded the tapping operation. After the issue broke out, Prabhakar Rao reportedly fled to the United States. In his absence, the SIT arrested and interrogated several police officers, many of whom confirmed that they were acting under Prabhakar Rao’s direct instructions.

Following a legal battle, and under pressure from an extradition process initiated by Indian authorities, Prabhakar Rao returned to Hyderabad and appeared before the SIT. Initial reports suggest he evaded key questions during the first round of interrogation, but officials were eventually able to extract crucial information from him in later sessions.