BENGALURU: Additional Director General of Police (Railways) Bhaskar Rao has filed a protest petition before the Special CBI Court to reject the final report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with an illegal phone-tapping case and to order for further investigation.
The case is related to the alleged illegal telephonic interception in which, the former Additional Commissioner of Police - Bengaluru City, Alok Kumar, who is currently ADGP (KSRP), was in the dock, following allegations that he had misused his official powers and instructed his subordinates to intercept phones of some politicians and bureaucrats. The case was exposed after a TV channel aired conversations of Rao -- who had just taken over as the new chief of Bengaluru City Police -- with a person believed to be a political tout.
The government had referred the investigation to the CBI, which had raided several places, including the residence and office of Alok Kumar. On June 30, the CBI had filed a ‘B’ Report (closure report) to the court to drop the proceedings.
On Tuesday, Rao moved a protest petition before the court as a victim. “At least two suspects are clearly referenced and frequently adverted to in the investigation and the same are Alok Kumar and Kushala (a journalist). The CBI probe itself clearly prima facie bears out that they have violated Sec. 72 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Section 26 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
Yet, they are not named even as suspects, though no special privileges or exemptions are afforded by the legislation either to the police officer or a journalist to collect, access, or utilise illegally intercepted information,” Rao stated in his petition.