Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the Telangana phone tapping case, grilled former deputy superintendent of police Praneeth Rao on Friday, June 13.
Rao was interrogated for a couple of hours, after which the SIT recorded his statement. Rao was reportedly questioned about instructions he received to destroy the hard disks that contained sensitive data from phone tapping conversation records.
Even though the former DSP tried to avoid answering, the SIT officials focused on getting inputs explaining the intensity of the case in which the then SIB officials violated the law by intercepting the phones of political leaders, celebrities, journalists and judges.
According to reports, when the accused explained that he had provided details in earlier questioning at the time of his arrest, the SIT officials produced circumstantial evidence before Rao, seeking further inputs. Even though he maintained silence, the officials partially obtained inputs.
The former DSP is accused of playing a major role in intercepting the then Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy and other opposition leaders in the buildup to the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections.
The SIT officials, who have served notice to Prabhakar Rao asking him to appear before the SIT on Saturday, are likely to question him alongside Praneeth Rao. The SIT also kept a close vigil on the movements of Prabhakar Rao, whom he was meeting at his residence.
