HYDERABAD : After over a fortnight of investigation in the phone-tapping case, the police have reportedly included the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 in the case. So far, the official charges against Praneeth Rao and the other accused were only related to criminal breach of trust, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy and various sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
With the addition of the Telegraph Act, the high-profile case has now been officially recognised as a sensitive issue with the possible involvement of national agencies in the case. The concerns regarding right to privacy and government surveillance will be addressed with the inclusion of the Act. The legal penalties associated with the case will also be widened.
Meanwhile, in an official press release, West Zone DCP S M Vijay Kumar said that former Task Force OSD Radha Kishan Rao confessed to his role in developing profiles of private persons, exploiting official resources meant for lawful duties, surveillance on persons un-authorisedly, exploiting official resources to transport money illegally when model code of conduct was in force and destroying evidence of their illegal activities by damaging public properties.
Cop confessed to his role in phone tapping: Police
Following his confession, the police arrested Radha Kishan Rao and produced him before the court which sent him to remand for 14 days in Chanchalguda jail.
Radha Kishan Rao and his team have been accused of carrying out unauthorised phone tapping at the field level based on information they received from suspended DSP D Praneeth Rao.
The former OSD is said to have played a key role in the reported phone tapping of political leaders, businessmen and celebrities. His team then reportedly sent the audio clips of the taped conversations back to the speaker and extorted money in hundreds of crores.
It is learnt that a technical consultant to the Special Intelligence Bureau, Ravi Pal, allegedly purchased the tapping device from Israel in the name of a software company, without the permission of the central government. This device was reportedly then set up near the residence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy when he was opposition leader to keep track his movements.
Earlier, the police had arrested two additional SPs in the case - Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna. The investigation team has now been granted police custody of the duo. However, the court rejected the police petition seeking custody of Praneeth Rao again.
As part of the ongoing investigations, the police on Friday also arrested three more cops of the Task Force and interrogated them at the Banjara Hills police station.
What is the ex-DCP accused of?
The former OSD allegedly played a key role in the phone-tapping case. His team then sent audio clips of taped conversations back to the speaker and extorted money.