Hyderabad, Aug 8 (PTI) Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Friday demanded that the Telangana government hand over probe into the alleged illegal phone tapping during the previous BRS
regime to the CBI.
Speaking to reporters before meeting the officers of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to record his statement as a witness in the phone tapping case, he said he does not have "trust" in the probe by the SIT.
Though the officers in the SIT are "good", the Congress government is not giving freedom to them to conduct the probe freely, he alleged.
Claiming friendship between Congress and BRS, he said the Congress government has appointed Commissions of inquiry over allegations into various issues during the BRS regime but not taking any action.
"They (Congress and BRS) are playing these dramas together. We don't have trust in this. That's why, we are demanding a CBI probe," he said.
Sanjay Kumar claimed that his phone calls were the highest to be tapped when he had served as president of BJP in Telangana during the BRS government.
He alleged that the phone calls of his family members, staff, those who worked at his home, BJP leaders and workers were tapped.
He said it was he who exposed the illegal phone-tapping during the BRS regime.
He also said he would submit the information and "confidential report" available with him regarding phone-tapping to the SIT.
Sanjay Kumar offered prayers at a Hanuman temple at Khairatabad here and then reached the Dilkusha government guesthouse by walk to appear before the SIT officials.
Kumar had earlier asked the SIT officials to record his statement on July 28, but he could not do so in view of the parliament session.
Accusing former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of being behind phone-tapping, Kumar had earlier said he would cooperate with the investigators.
Authorities earlier questioned former Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief of Telangana, T Prabhakar Rao, who is the prime accused in this case.
Rao has been accused of forming a "Special Operations Team" under a now-suspended DSP within the SIB for carrying out certain specific tasks related to political surveillance to benefit the then-ruling political party and its leaders.
The suspended DSP of the SIB was among the four police officials arrested by the Hyderabad police in March 2024 for allegedly erasing intelligence information from various electronic gadgets, as well as for phone-tapping during the BRS regime. They were subsequently granted bail.
Those named as accused in the case, along with others, had allegedly developed profiles of several people in an unauthorised manner and were accused of monitoring them clandestinely and illegally in the SIB. PTI SJR SJR ADB
