Telangana BJP stages protest over government’s ‘inaction’ in phone tapping case

Hyderabad, May 31: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Telangana unit leaders staged a sit-in here on Friday, demanding action against those involved in the phone tapping case in the wake of recent confessions of the accused.

BJP leaders led by the party’s OBC Morcha president and MP K. Laxman held the ‘dharna’ at Indira Park to protest against the Congress government’s inaction in the case.

They demanded why the Congress government is not taking any action against those behind the phone tapping during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) rule.

Laxman alleged that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is under pressure from bigwigs in Delhi not to act against the accused.

The BJP leader said the confessions of the police officers arrested in the case show that the entire evidence in the case was destroyed.

He said the Congress should fulfil its promise to act against all those involved in phone tapping. He recalled that Revanth Reddy had once stated that he was the victim of phone tapping.

Laxman said the confessions of the accused show how the entire operation was conducted by about 50 officers using imported technology and equipment. “Despite all the confessions, the government is not acting against those involved. People of Telangana want an answer from the Chief Minister,” he said.

The BJP leader said that everyone has the responsibility to protect democracy. The government has the responsibility to ensure that there is no threat to national security, he added.

Stating that phone tapping is an anti-national act, he reiterated the demand for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

He said the Congress government’s inaction had created doubts that it is trying to shield BRS leaders.

Confessions of a former police official and three suspended police officials arrested in the case came to light this week. They revealed that during the BRS rule a special team was constituted in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) which tapped the phones of leaders of opposition parties, their family members, their funders and dissidents within the ruling party.

The accused also revealed that the team even snooped on judges, businesspersons and VIPs.