Hyderabad: Investigators probing the phone tapping case in Telangana have reportedly obtained key admissions from former Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) chief T. Prabhakar Rao, who confirmed that a special surveillance unit, Special Operation Target (SOT), was set up solely for political monitoring.
Prabhakar Rao reportedly told the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that he created the SOT wing under officer Praneeth Rao, specifically to monitor individuals opposed to the then ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The operation was run under the guise of tracking Maoist activities.
According to SIT sources, lists of phone numbers marked for surveillance were forwarded in Prabhakar Rao’s name to higher authorities using Maoist links as justification. These were then cleared by designated officials and shared with service providers. The intercepted data was stored on hard drives that were later destroyed post-elections.
SIT questioned Prabhakar Rao for nine hours on Saturday in what was the third round of interrogation. They found inconsistencies in his answers about the destruction of the hard drives. He reportedly cited a December 2 order from a review committee as the reason for wiping data, but failed to produce any documentary proof.
The data destruction, carried out on December 4, days before the Telangana election results, has raised red flags. SIT noted that review committee meetings typically happen in January or July, casting doubt on Prabhakar Rao’s explanation.
Praneeth Rao’s failure to erase data from his own phone has also exposed saved audio conversations with political leaders, including a former BJP MP and a Siddipet-based individual. SIT believes these files establish that political surveillance was carried out.
Despite over 20 hours of questioning across three sessions, Prabhakar Rao has not disclosed who authorised the operations. SIT has also seized his phones. Victim statements will be recorded starting Sunday.
