Phone tapping case: KCR served notice to appear before SIT on Jan 30, ex- CM seeks fresh date

A SIT of the Telangana police probing allegations of phone tapping during previous BRS regime on Thursday issued a notice to the party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao for his appearance on January 30, but the former CM sought a fresh date for his examination.

A SIT of the Telangana police probing allegations of phone tapping during previous BRS regime on Thursday issued a notice to the party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao for his appearance on January 30, but the former CM sought a fresh date for his examination. Rao, also known as KCR, also said he would fully cooperate with the investigation. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) asked KCR to appear before it here on January 30 at 3 PM. In its notice, the SIT told Rao that since he is aged above 65 years, and as per the provisions of section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he may either appear before the investigators at the Jubilee Hills Police station or inform a place convenient to him in Hyderabad for the examination. KCR was further requested to intimate his preferred place ''well in advance'' for examination. In his reply, the BRS president informed the Investigating Officer that he is pre-occupied with the process of nominations for the February 11 municipal elections as January 30 is the last date for filing nominations. The Investigating Officer may fix any other date for the examination, KCR said. He also sought the examination to be conducted at his ''place of residing'' (farmhouse) at Erravelli village near here. Citing the provisions of Section 160 of CrPC under which he was served notice, KCR said any male person above 65 years is not required to visit the police station and the investigating team is required to examine such individuals where they are residing. Therefore, in accordance with Section 160 CrPC, he can be examined at his Erravelli village address with prior notice, the former CM said. ''I state that being a former Chief Minister for the state of Telangana and present Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and also as a responsible citizen of this country, I would like to assure my full cooperation with the said investigation,'' he said. KCR's son and BRS Working President K T Rama Rao hit out at the Congress government over the notice issued to his father. It is an example of the ''most despicable vendetta politics''. The notice is an attempt by the Congress government to divert attention from its failures and lapses in governance, he alleged. ''This is not an investigation… This is revenge. This is not justice…This is political malice,'' he added. The BRS condemns the vendetta politics and people would teach the Congress a lesson, he said in a release. State Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud said there is no political vendetta in the issue and that two and a half years have already passed since Congress assumed power in the state. A thorough investigation should be conducted into phone tapping allegations and the truth should come out, he said. KCR's daughter K Kavitha, who has been suspended from BRS, alleged that the investigation into phone tapping has been going on ''non-seriously''. KCR was issued notice in view of the municipal elections, she claimed. Describing phone-tapping as painful, she said it remains to be seen whether the culprits would face the consequences or not. Earlier, K T Rama Rao and his cousin T Harish Rao appeared before the SIT on January 23 and January 20 respectively, in connection with the case. This apart, some other BRS leaders were among those who were recently summoned and questioned by the SIT. The case relates to allegations of widespread unauthorised and illegal phone surveillance and interception involving politicians, businessmen, journalists, members of the judiciary and eminent personalities. Former Telangana intelligence chief T Prabhakar Rao, the prime accused in the case was earlier questioned by the SIT. A suspended DSP of Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) was among the four police officials arrested by Hyderabad Police since March 2024 for allegedly erasing the intelligence information from various electronic gadgets as well as for alleged phone-tapping during the previous BRS regime. They were subsequently granted bail.

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