HYDERABAD: Former Task Force OSD Radha Kishan Rao, who is named A-4 (Accused No. 4) in the phone-tapping case, has reportedly confessed to having conspired with the other accused with a common goal of ensuring that the BRS returned to power for the third consecutive time in the 2023 elections.
To accomplish this, former chief of Special Intelligence Bureau T Prabhakar Rao (the then IGP of SIB) chose D Praneeth Rao to head a newly created Special Operations Team at SIB. In his confessional statement, Radha Kishan revealed that the team was exclusively formed “for the sole purpose of surveillance over the targeted political leaders and their associates... and dissidents within the BRS”.
Radha Kishan said that Praneeth’s team also reportedly focused on inducing leaders from other parties to join the BRS, which was clearly against the SIB mandate.
Speaking of the prime accused Prabhakar Rao, Radha Kishan said that after the formation of the TRS (later BRS) government in 2014, Prabhakar was in 2016 chosen as DIG of the Intelligence Department on ‘caste equations’. Prabhakar then handpicked his subordinates — Praneeth Rao from Nalgonda, Bhujanga Rao from Rachakonda, Venugopal Rao from Cyberabad and Thirupathanna from Hyderabad — as they either belonged to his community or were well acquainted with him.
On the recommendations of Prabhakar Rao and due to his caste, Radha Kishan was posted as DCP of Task Force in 2017 by the BRS government so that he could “maintain a hold on Hyderabad city for political and other reasons”.
Radha Kishan then recommended inspector Gattu Mallu to be posted in Task Force and later in SIB.
Prabhakar handpicked team: Kishan
Radha Kishan said that Prabhakar was chosen as Intelligence Department DIG based on ‘caste equations’. He then handpicked Praneeth Rao from Nalgonda, Bhujanga Rao from Rachakonda, Venugopal Rao from Cyberabad & Thirupathanna from Hyderabad as they either belonged to his community or were well acquainted with him
Radha Kishan used caste card to get job extensions
As per Radha Kishan’s statement, the accused communicated with each other on encrypted social media apps and regularly met each other to discuss the strengthening of the BRS. They allegedly used technology and manpower so that their unauthorised activities would not be exposed.
In the remand report, Radha Kishan noted that after his superannuation in August 2020, he influenced the then BRS government and got himself appointed OSD for three years up to August 2023 and continued to head the Task Force.
He reportedly got a second extension as an OSD for three more years as his services were required by the then political bosses and Prabhakar Rao.
Further, under the direction of Prabhakar Rao, Radha Kishan confessed to having misused his position to seize crores from politicians during the elections.
On Prabhakar Rao’s instructions during the 2018 Assembly elections, Praneeth Rao shared inputs with Radha Kishan and his team then seized `70 lakh from Paradise at Ramgopalpet belonging to Anand Prasad, the TDP candidate from Serilingampally.
Again, during the Dubbak byelection in 2020, on Praneeth Rao’s inputs, the Task Force seized Rs 1 crore from a Siddipet-based chit fund company at Begumpet. The company belongs to relatives and associates of the BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao.
During the Munugode byelection in 2022, based on Praneeth Rao’s inputs, they intercepted and seized Rs 3.50 crore from the associates of BJP candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy.
Meanwhile, the investigation team is probing another former officer of SIB, Dayananda Reddy, who is believed to be a loyalist of Prabhakar Rao. Dayananda Reddy worked as an OSD in SIB along with Prabhakar Rao, sources revealed.
The case, which has been under investigation for more than 15 days, is based on a complaint by an additional SP of the SIB on March 10. Praneeth and others were accused of developing profiles of some private persons and monitoring their movements without authorisation.
The team was also accused of copying the intelligence data on personal hard drives and then destroying official data of the SIB. Upon investigation, the police also learnt that the accused used the taped conversations to reportedly extort money from political leaders and businesspersons.