KTR sends legal notices to Telangana minister, MLA over phone tapping allegations

Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao on Wednesday sent legal notices to Telangana minister Konda Surekha, MLA Yennam Srinivas Reddy and another Congress leader K. Mahender Reddy for defamation after they made allegations against him in a phone tapping case.

The former minister has also sent legal notices to some media organisations and YouTube channels.

KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, has given one week to them to apologise, failing which he threatened to initiate defamation proceedings.

He earlier made it clear that he would not leave those making baseless allegations against him and warned that he would not hesitate to take legal action against even Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

Environment and Forest Minister Konda Surekha has been served legal notice for making "false, slanderous and libelous statements" that KTR is involved in alleged phone tapping issue, the BRS leader said.

The notice states that the allegations reeks of her malafide intention to tarnish the reputation, image and goodwill of the BRS MLA.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Konda Surekha alleged that KTR indulged in phone tapping and threatened film actresses. She also stated that KTR, his father, former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, would very soon be arrested for the scam, in the way his sister Kavitha was sent to jail in the liquor scam.

The minister has been accused of indulging in vendetta politics and misuse of power to deceive the general public. KTR made clear that he is not involved in any offense.

Through the legal notice, KTR’s counsel has asked the minister to withdraw the statement, to tender an unconditional apology to him for tarnishing his reputation by malicious and defamatory acts. She has also been asked to refrain from engaging in any further malicious or frivolous defamatory acts.

The minister has been told that if failed to comply with his demands in seven days, he will be constrained to initiate necessary and appropriate legal action against her while reserving his right to seek appropriate damages.

Similar notices were issued to Mahabubnagar MLA Yennam Srinivas Reddy and Congress leader from Sircilla, K. Mahender Reddy. They had met Hyderabad Police Commissioner K. Sreenivasa Reddy seeking a probe into KTR's alleged role in phone tapping.

MLA Srinivas Reddy had also lodged a complaint with the DGP Ravi Gupta about the tapping of his phones ahead of the polls. He claimed that this was done on the orders of a former BRS minister.

Mahender Reddy stated that based on phone tapping, senior political leaders threatened him not to encourage BRS corporators of Rajanna Sircilla district from joining the Congress.