Phone-tapping case: Telangana HC adjourns hearing on ex-SIB chief’s bail plea
Hyderabad, March 24 (IANS) The Telangana High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the anticipatory bail petition of former Inspector General of Police T. Prabhakar Rao, the prime accused in the phone-tapping case.
The High Court on Monday took up for hearing the petition by Prabhakar Rao, who was heading the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) when the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was in power.
The former IPS officer, who has been staying in the United States for over a year and declared absconder by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, approached the court for anticipatory bail through his counsel.
The court asked the state government to file a counter. As the government counsel sought time for the same, the court adjourned the hearing by two weeks.
Prabhakar Rao claimed in his petition that the phone-tapping case was registered with a political motive. He argued that the allegations made in the complaint, FIR, and charge sheet were false and made up to implicate him for political interests.
The former IPS officer alleged that without any evidence, the SIT narrated a story of alleged phone interceptions and destruction of recordings to please the political set-up in the government.
Denying that he had absconded, Rao said he went to the US on March 11, 2024, whereas the SIT listed him as an accused in the case on April 29, 50 days after his departure.
Prabhakar Rao said that when he came to know about case, he had filed a memo, dated May 2, through his counsel, informing the court about the circumstances of his travel to US, which was for medical purposes, prior to registration of the case and much before his implication in this case.
He also claimed he had contacted the investigating officer and provided his contact details and expressed his willingness to co-operate with the investigation. He also stated that he was not evading probe as he had been in regular contact with the investigating officer. He also claimed that no police officer approached him for inquiry into the case.
The phone-tapping allegations under the previous government of BRS came to light in March last year with the arrest of Deputy Superintendent of Police Praneeth Rao following a complaint from his superior, Additional SP D. Ramesh, with the SIB.
The police have so far named six accused in the case. Praneeth Rao, Additional SPs Thirupathanna and Bhujanga Rao and former DCP P. Radha Kishan Rao were arrested in the case.
Then chief of SIB, Prabhakar Rao had allegedly constituted a team within the SIB with his trusted aides including Praneeth Rao for surveillance of rival political leaders, their families and dissidents within the ruling party, businessmen, journalists and even judges.
The Telangana Police in August last year initiated the process to bring back Prabhakar Rao and another accused Sravan Kumar from the US. Its request for Red Corner notices is pending with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
–IANS
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