Hyderabad, 25 March

Former Telangana Intelligence Bureau chief T Prabhakhar Rao has been named as Accused No 1 in the phone-tapping case.

On Sunday, Hyderabad police arrested two additional superintendents of police (ASP).  According to the report, additional deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Thirupathanna and additional superintendent of Police N Bhujanga Rao, who were arrested, worked as ASPs in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) and Intelligence Department respectively. They were sent to judicial custody on Sunday.

A look out notice has also been issued against Rao and two others for not being present during probe and alleged non-cooperation, PTI reported.

The lookout notice has also been issued against then deputy commissioner of police of Commissioner's Task Force (a wing of Hyderabad Police) P Radhakrishna and a senior executive of a Telugu TV channel.

Rao, on whose order reams of electronic data is said to have been gathered by illegally tapping the phones of Opposition leaders during the earlier BRS government led by K Chandrashekar Rao, is reportedly in the United States. 

Home of Shravan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel called I News, was also searched. Sharvan allegedly helped set up phone-tapping equipment (from Israel) and servers on the premises of a local school.

According to the Telangana Police, both the arrested ASPs allegedly colluded with suspended state intelligence bureau (SIB) deputy superintendent of police (DSP) D Praneeth Rao. Rao was earlier arrested for allegedly erasing the intelligence information from various electronic gadgets as well as for alleged phone tapping during the previous BRS government.

A Hyderabad Police statement said that the two arrested police officials confessed to alleged involvement in conspiracy to monitor private persons illegally by developing their profiles and abusing their official positions.