SIT grills Prabhakar Rao for eight hours in phone tapping case

Hyderabad: In a dramatic turn in the phone tapping case that rattled Telangana politics, former Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) Chief Prabhakar Rao underwent a marathon eight-hour grilling by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) at the Jubilee Hills police station on Monday.

Prabhakar Rao, who returned from the US via Dubai late Sunday night, was whisked away by immigration officials at Shamshabad Airport due to an active lookout circular. After verifying his Supreme Court order and one-time entry documents, they alerted the investigating officer.

On Monday morning at 10 am, Rao reached the SIT office inside the Jubilee Hills police station, where a five-member team led by West Zone DCP Vijay Kumar and Jubilee Hills ACP Venkata Giri took charge of the questioning.

According to sources, investigators bombarded Rao with pointed questions: who recommended the hasty promotion of Praneet Rao, another key accused? Why did Rao frequently meet Praneet Rao and private individual Shravan Rao? And how did Shravan Rao despite having no official links with the SIB come to be involved in sensitive operations?

Rao, for his part, reportedly stuck to his affidavit, insisting he had no role in phone tapping. He challenged the investigators to produce evidence linking him to the case, even turning the tables with counter-questions.

Allegations against Rao stem from his tenure as SIB Chief, when he allegedly orchestrated illegal surveillance operations targeting political leaders, film personalities, journalists, and even judges. The SIT believes that Rao’s interrogation could unearth crucial details, including who ordered the surveillance, how widespread the operation was, and whose phones were tapped.

Investigators also focused on claims that phones of individuals who allegedly funded opposition parties during the last elections were tapped raising questions about the motives behind the operation.

The SIT team recorded Rao’s statement in detail and ordered him to appear again on June 11 for further questioning.

With the case gaining momentum, all eyes are now on how the SIT will piece together the phone tapping web and whether it can secure enough evidence to nail the accused. For now, Prabhakar Rao’s grilling marks a critical milestone in a scandal that continues to reverberate through Telangana’s political corridors.