The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), led by K Chandrashekar Rao, is facing significant scrutiny amidst startling allegations of state police officers tapping the phones of former Opposition leaders, including current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, as well as celebrities and businessmen.
These allegations suggest that the surveillance was also employed to coerce businessmen into making substantial contributions to the BRS party fund. However, the BRS has yet to issue a response to these claims.
In connection with this matter, three senior police officers have been apprehended, and a lookout notice has been issued for T Prabhakar Rao, the former chief of the state intelligence bureau, who is reportedly residing in the US presently.
Authorities have disclosed that two senior officers, Additional Superintendent of Police Bhujanga Rao and Additional Superintendent of Police Thirupathanna, have confessed to engaging in illegal surveillance and destroying evidence.
According to reports, Ravi Paul, a technical consultant with the state intelligence bureau during the tenure of the BRS government, purportedly facilitated the importation and installation of phone-tapping equipment near Mr. Reddy’s residence to monitor his conversations.
Allegedly, this equipment was imported from Israel through a software company, without obtaining the necessary permission from the Centre. It is reported that this device had a range of 300 meters, allowing interception of conversations within this radius.
Further allegations suggest that Ravi Paul established an office near Mr. Reddy’s residence and installed the surveillance device. Authorities are preparing to interrogate him regarding these allegations.
Lookout notices have also been issued for Sharvan Rao, who operates the Telugu TV channel I News, and Radha Kishan Rao, a police officer with the city task force.
The scope of surveillance was not confined to Opposition leaders. Prominent businessmen, including real estate developers and jewelers, as well as celebrities, were reportedly subjected to surveillance. In fact, reports indicate that phone conversations intercepted through this surveillance led to the divorce of a celebrity couple.
Adding to the BRS’s woes, Chief Minister Reddy has received a complaint from Sharan Chaudhary, a businessman and BJP leader, alleging that senior police officers abducted him last year and coerced him into transferring ownership of a piece of land to a relative of former minister and BRS leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao.
Mr. Chaudhary claims that Radha Kishan Rao and senior police officer ACP Umamaheswara Rao abducted him on August 21 while he was en route to his office. He alleges that he was unlawfully detained and forced to transfer his property to Vijay, a close relative of the minister, and was also coerced into paying ₹ 50 lakh before being released.
The businessman asserts that he approached the High Court following the incident, but Uma Maheshwar Rao purportedly threatened to file false charges against him, compelling him to withdraw the petition.