Hyderabad: Police register case against suspended DSP Praneeth Rao

Hyderabad: The Punjagutta police registered a case against suspended DSP Praneeth Rao for allegedly damaging computers, hard disks and other data at the office of Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB). The case was booked based on a complaint by the Additional Superintendent of Police who alleged that the DSP, who worked with the SIB earlier, had entered the office and damaged equipment and deleted data after switching off power supply to the SOT room. The police registered a case under sections 409, 427, 201, 120 (B), of IPC and Sec 3 of PDPP Act 1984 and Sec 65, 66 and 70 of IT Act against him and are investigating. According to the complainant, the officer had been a senior member of the organisation. During his tenure in SIB, Rao worked as Inspector from 2018. Later, he got accelerated promotion as DSP in 2023.

While working in SIB, unlike other teams, he occupied two rooms exclusively for himself and operated with 17 systems issued to him with an exclusive and dedicated leased line with internet connection, through which he developed profiles of unknown persons and monitored the same clandestinely, unauthorisedly and illegally. The officer said, in 2024, records, both physical and electronic disappeared from the SIB office. On enquiry it came to light that, Rao, by misusing and abusing his post, used to always copy intelligence information into his personal pen drive and external disks.

On December 4, 2023 night, during dismantling and destruction of equipment containing data/information, Rao turned off cameras and destroyed old hard drives which contained data, which was gathered over decades along with data clandestinely obtained by him. To avoid any suspicion against him, he replaced the old hard drives, which were destroyed, with new hard drives unauthorizedly and illegally. Rao did all these illegal and criminal acts by turning off the CCTV cameras unauthorisedly and illegally.