Suspended cop gets interim bail in Telangana phone tapping case

Hyderabad, Aug 19 : A city court on Monday granted interim bail to suspended Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) N. Bhujanga Rao in a phone tapping case.

Rao was granted interim bail for 15 days on health grounds after he approached the court, seeking bail for cardiac treatment. Accepting his request, the court granted him interim bail.

He is one of the four police officers arrested in the phone tapping case, which came to light in March.

Bhujanga Rao, named second accused in the case, had allegedly destroyed certain computer systems and official data.

The case related to the alleged tapping of phones of politicians, businessmen, celebrities, and even some judges during the previous government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

Several opposition leaders, including then Congress MP and present Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, dissidents within the then ruling party, businesspersons, journalists, and even judges were among those whose phones were allegedly tapped by a team within the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB).

The phone tapping and snooping row came to light after the BRS lost power to Congress and an official in SIB, who was part of the operation, was found destroying the collected data.

In March a case was registered with the Panjagutta police after a petition was filed by an additional SP, SIB D. Ramesh.

Former DSP Praneeth Rao was arrested for allegedly destroying hard disks and other data after the Congress party came to power in December last year.

The police later arrested Bhujanga Rao, Tirupathanna and former Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Radha Kishan Rao.

Telangana High Court had had last month directed the print and electronic media not to mention the names and mobile phone numbers of the judges in their reports connected to the case.

A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti had passed this interim direction while hearing the suo moto taken-up writ petition in the phone tapping case. The bench said that media persons should exercise restraint while reporting developments related to the case.

In another development in the case last month, the former chief of the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) T. Prabhakar Rao, the main accused, denied allegations against him.

The retired Inspector General of Police, who is in the US, communicated to the investigating officer that multiple health problems have forced him to defer his return.

He assured the police that he would fully cooperate in the investigation and answer all queries in person as soon as his health improved and upon his return to India.