The former chief of Telangana’s Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) has been listed as a prime accused in the Hyderabad Police case into the phone tapping of political rivals, with investigators alleging a concerted effort to destroy evidence as the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) faced defeat in assembly polls.
Retired IPS officer T Prabhakar Rao, named as “accused number 1” by Hyderabad Police, allegedly failed to resist orders from the BRS government, forming a coterie to please party leaders. “As Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Intelligence Wing, Rao should have rejected certain orders,” an official said, noting alleged misuse of anti-Naxal surveillance tools.
A probe officer disclosed that officers under Rao’s supervision undertook tasks beyond their expected duties, including alleged phone tapping, gathering intelligence on specific individuals’ movements, and monitoring opposition figures, activists, and political critics.
Following repeated mentions implicating Rao’s alleged involvement by suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police D Praneeth Rao and Additional Superintendents of Police N Bhujanga Rao and M Thirupatanna, who were arrested on Saturday, officials at the Panjagutta police station issued a lookout circular (LOC) for Rao and former DCP and OSD (Task Force) P Radha Kishan Rao.
After the issuance of LOCs on Saturday, both individuals were named as accused in the case. Allegations suggest that these officers compiled notes based on data obtained through purported phone tapping and submitted reports to the BRS leadership. Furthermore, a surveillance operation allegedly targeted the activities of four BRS MLAs who claimed they were offered bribes to defect to the BJP in October 2022.
Initially not named in the FIR, officials expressed intentions to question Prabhakar Rao and Radha Kishan Rao regarding phone tapping allegations and the destruction of data stored on over 45 hard drives in the SIB’s computers. However, the arrest of Bhujanga Rao and Thirupatanna altered the course of events, with officials claiming they acted under orders from Prabhakar Rao, implicating Radha Kishan Rao in the operations as well.
These officers, with esteemed careers, were honoured for their contributions. Thirupatanna received the Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation in August 2023 and served as Additional DCP of City Security Wing, Hyderabad, while Bhujanga Rao held the position of Additional SP of Bhupalpally district at the time of their arrest.
As the December 3 election results signalled the BRS’s defeat to the Congress, these officers allegedly conspired to destroy evidence, including computer hard drives. Praneeth Rao purportedly removed and destroyed the hard drives at the SIB office on December 4, coinciding with the resignations of Prabhakar Rao and Radha Kishan Rao. Prabhakar Rao retired in June 2020 after 29 years of service and was appointed as OSD, Intelligence (SIB) by the BRS government in November of the previous year.
Suspicions led to the issuance of LOCs, with Prabhakar Rao suspected to have fled to the US and Radha Kishan Rao to the UK following D Praneeth Rao’s arrest. Additionally, authorities seek to question the managing director of a media company, with police conducting searches at all three individuals’ residences over the weekend.