Probe in Phone Tap Trash: KTR

Hyderabad: Terming the investigation in the phone tapping case related to the tenure of the BRS government as “baseless” and “nonsense”, party working president and former minister KT Rama Rao wondered how criminal the then government’s surveillance was. He asked that DGP B. Shivadhar Reddy should be in the accused if the previous BRS government violated the norms.

Addressing the media in Sircilla after reports of him being summoned for questioning in the phone tapping case became public, Rama Rao questioned why former intelligence chiefs and DGPs, including Shivadhar Reddy, former police chiefs Mahender Reddy and Jitender and other police officers, were not summoned by the Special Investigation Team probing the phone tapping operation.

Rama Rao said, “If the investigation is honest, these officers should be questioned first. Instead political leaders are being targeted and an endless story is being told to pass the time.”

The BRS leader alleged that instead of addressing governance issues, the administration constantly brings up new controversies ranging from Kaleshwaram irregularities to Formula-E payment case, sheep purchase scheme and now phone tapping just to distract the public.

Rama Rao emphasized that surveillance mechanisms exist for national security and maintenance of public order, not for partisan politics. “Every government in the country relies on intelligence agencies to maintain law and order and maintain stability. The surveillance mechanism has been in place since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru and continues even today under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These systems do not work at the discretion of ministers or political rulers,” he said.