Phone tapping case: Former CS, intel chief called for questioning

Hyderabad: Two days after the Supreme Court extended the custody of former Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief, T Prabhakar Rao, in the alleged phone tapping case, it has come to light that two other top bureaucrats — former chief secretary Somesh Kumar and former intelligence chief Naveen Chand — were questioned by interrogators.The two were served notices and called in as witnesses.
Sources said this is the first time that top-ranking officers who served during the previous BRS regime, have been called to the Jubilee Hills police station in connection with the case. It is, however, still unclear if the two were probed in the presence of the prime accused, Prabhakar Rao.When asked, members of the newly formed nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Cong govt refused to comment.Sources, however, said that the two senior officers were questioned on a range of subjects, including the alleged illegal surveillance and who issued the instructions to the team executing it.While Somesh Kumar served as chief secretary between Dec 2019 and Jan 2023, Naveen Chand was the state's intelligence chief between Sept 2016 and Nov 2020. Prabhakar Rao worked under Naveen Chand as SIB chief and was later appointed by the then govt as his successor.Prabhakar held the post of intel chief for a few months.Hyderabad police took up investigation into the alleged phone tapping case based on a complaint by SIB officers after the Cong came to power in Telangana in 2023. In their complaint, the officers claimed that a Special Intelligence Team (SIT) under SIB — formed during the BRS regime — indulged in illegal surveillance of phones of top leaders — including the now chief minister A Revanth Reddy and family — judges and other prominent citizens, and destruction of hard disks.Following the latest development, sources indicate that more senior officers who held key posts during the BRS govt and worked closely with it might also be called to record their statements. Prabhakar Rao will be in police custody till Dec 25.Prior to SC granting permission to Telangana police to question him in custodial interrogation, former officer on special duty (OSD) P Rajasekhar Reddy was also questioned.

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