In a significant development, a Hyderabad court on Wednesday granted a seven-day police custody for Radha Kishan Rao, former Deputy Commissioner of Police, Task Force, in connection with the Telangana phone tapping case.
The decision came after the Nampally court heard the police petition, scheduling Rao’s custody from April 4 to April 10.
Rao, identified as the fourth accused in the case, which surfaced last month, has stirred political circles. Following his retirement, he served as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Task Force before his arrest on March 28. The subsequent day, the Nampally court remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.
Allegations have surfaced suggesting the formation of a Special Operations Team within the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) for monitoring rival political leaders, their families, and dissenters within the ruling party.
Former SIB chief Prabhakar Rao, reportedly close to the previous Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, is said to have orchestrated the formation of the SOT alongside DSP D. Praneeth Rao, the first police officer arrested in the case last month.
Reports suggest that based on Praneeth’s inputs, the Task Force intercepted large sums of money during various elections, including Rs 70 lakh from Anand Prasad, the TDP candidate from Serilingampally constituency during the December 2018 elections.
Furthermore, during the 2020 Dubbaka by-election, Rs 1 crore was seized based on the SOT’s information, linked to a chit fund company in Siddipet with connections to BJP candidate M. Raghunandan Rao.
Similarly, during the Munugode by-election in October 2022, Rs.3.5 crore belonging to BJP candidate Komatireddy Raja Gopal Reddy was intercepted and seized.
Two other police officers, N. Bhujanga Rao and M. Tirupatanna, who served in SIB, were sent to judicial custody until April 6 after their five-day police custody ended on Tuesday. The officers were arrested on March 23.
Meanwhile, Prabhakar Rao, the former SIB chief, has resigned from his position following the change in government. Police have issued a lookout notice for him as he is believed to be abroad.
