HYDERABAD: In a major development in the alleged phone-tapping case, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) recently recorded the statements of former Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari and former General Administration Department Principal Secretary M Raghunandan Rao. While Santhi Kumari headed the committee informally referred to as the “tapping review committee”, which approves requests for surveillance, Raghunandan Rao was one of its members.
SIT sources stated that, based on the statements of the main accused and former SIB chief T Prabhakar Rao, the investigators recorded the statements of Santhi Kumari and Raghunandan Rao as witnesses. The sources said that the former CS was examined after Prabhakar Rao allegedly claimed that he acted as per instructions from the “review committee” and higher officials of the Police department.
The sources stated that during her examination, Santhi Kumari told the SIT that when she reviewed the list of phone numbers submitted by the SIB or Intelligence for surveillance, she expressed doubts over several numbers. To this, the accused officers reportedly told her that the numbers belonged to persons suspected of having links with Maoists and terror-related organisations. The sources also said that the former chief secretary told the SIT that the accused officers misled the committee, adding that she did not believe this was done intentionally.
The sources confirmed that the former CS and Raghunandan Rao were asked if there was any pressure on them to approve the list of numbers to be surveilled. The sources, however, refused to divulge details of the answers given by the former chief secretary and Raghunandan Rao to this question.
SIT focus on phones tapped before 2023 polls
The SIT had earlier recorded the statements of former Principal Secretary (Home) Ravi Gupta, Director General of Police Dr Jitender, and former Intelligence chief Anil Kumar.
According to sources, the accused had claimed that all these officers were members of the “review committee” and had approved the list of phone numbers submitted for surveillance. Prabhakar Rao, the prime accused in the case, reportedly told the SIT that phones were tapped based on orders from “higher officials”.
The sources stated that the SIT inquiry is focusing on phones tapped up to a fortnight before the 2023 Assembly elections. The SIT is reportedly examining the entire list of tapped phones and trying to identify who gave the orders to surveil around 1,600 phones in the state, including those belonging to politicians, business personalities, film celebrities, IAS and IPS officers, and journalists.
Sources from the SIT stated that they are investigating the entire tapping episode using the available data from service providers and the Telecom Department. The sources also said that SIT is going through the call records obtained by Prabhakar Rao, Praneeth Rao and other accused from March 2023 to the end of November 2023. The SIT is also trying to identify why the accused obtained call records data from the service providers and on whose orders this was done.
The SIT officers are calling victims to record statements as witnesses by showing the Call Detail Records (CDRs) which were taken by the accused officers under key codes such as CAT 1, CAT 2, CAT 3 and so on. The SIT is also inquiring with the victims whether there was any intimidation, extortion, or other problems created by the accused officers between March 2023 and November 2023. If such activities are reported, the SIT is also accepting complaints from the victims and including these in the CRPC 161 statements.
The SIT is likely to record the statement of former DGP M Mahender Reddy. Prabhakar Rao reportedly stated to the investigation officer that his appointment was made by Mahender and that he followed instructions from higher officials.
Meanwhile, the SIT is also set to record the statement of Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay at a convenient time, likely Monday or Tuesday, as a witness, as his phone was also allegedly tapped by the accused officers.