SIT Summons KTR In Phone Tapping Case
Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the illegal phone tapping operation during the previous BRS regime, has summoned BRS working president and former minister KT Rama Rao for questioning at 11 am on Friday.
Rama Rao’s interrogation is vital because all the political leaders summoned by the SIT so far, including former minister T. Harish Rao, were largely victims of phone tapping. For the first time, the SIT was able to investigate the possibility of Rama Rao’s involvement in the decision-making process regarding phone tapping by the former BRS government.
Officials of the then Special Investigation Bureau (SIB) of the BRS government seized the mobile phones of political leaders, celebrities, Tollywood actors, journalists and judges. Rama Rao was served notices under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which allows the investigating officer to summon witnesses, suspects and even “potential accused”.
The SIT’s notice to Rama Rao came a day after his brother-in-law and former minister T. Harish Rao was interrogated for over seven hours. “Even Harish Rao could not escape tapping and we gave him the details during interrogation,” a senior police official said, adding that Rama Rao could be the first person to appear before the SIT other than officials who have already been charged and whose phones may have been spared.
Rama Rao, weeping over the SIT notice, described them as a diversionary tactic aimed at preserving Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s administrative failures. Comparing the investigation to daily soaps on television, Rama Rao said he would cooperate with the investigating agencies but would not accept political harassment.
He also cited the names of senior officials, including Director General of Police B. Shivadhar Reddy, and questioned the logic behind shielding them from investigation even though they held very important positions at the time the phones were tapped.
In the notice, SIT officials referred to the case registered by Punjagutta police and said that during the investigation, the investigating officer came to realize that Rama Rao had knowledge of the facts and circumstances of the case and personnel examination was required for the purpose of investigation.
“In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 160 of the CrPC, KT Rama Rao is directed to appear before the investigating officer at Jubilee Hills deputy commissioner of police (ACP) officer at 11 am on Friday for examination in connection with the investigation,” the SIT said in the notice. he said.
