Telangana BJP seeks Governor's intervention in phone tapping case

Hyderabad: The BJP in Telangana on Saturday demanded a CBI investigation into the phone tapping allegations that surfaced during the tenure of the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government.

A delegation of BJP leaders led by party MP K. Laxman submitted a memorandum to Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into phone tapping of private individuals and political opponents during the tenure of BRS/TRS government between 2014 and 2023.

The BJP urged the Governor to seek a report from the state 'to apprise the Union Home Ministry since the matter falls under the concurrent jurisdiction of both the governments and at the ambit of the Election Commission, therefore, warranting a thorough CBI investigation'.

The memorandum mentions that ever since Telangana Police registered a case, evidence has been emerging in the public domain about the alleged deposition of senior police officers who masterminded the entire operation. "The facts that are coming out in the public domain are indeed very serious, for they, on the one hand, raise serious questions about the security of the nation and, on the other, breach of the safety and liberty of the individuals," reads the memorandum.

The Governor was informed that the former police officers who were arrested now reportedly confessed that during the 2018 Assembly election, 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and subsequent by-elections in the state, they took recourse to telephone tapping of the opposition parties.

They gave statements about how they had tapped the phones of M. Raghunandan Rao (BJP candidate) during the by-election to Dubbaka in 2020, Huzurabad in 2021, and Mungode in November 2022.

The memorandum mentions police officers also tapped the telephones of affluent businessmen, especially jewellers, and the same was used to extort money.

Over 36 business people were reportedly subjected to massive extortion.

It alleged that everything happened at the behest of and the proactive connivance of senior leaders of the BRS, including the ministers and the chief minister himself.

The arrested former/serving officers reportedly confessed that they had transported the money in police vehicles during the elections to supply to the ruling party candidates.

The BJP leaders told the Governor that since the matter threatens the safety of the nation and privacy of its citizens, it warrants his intervention.