The Telangana Police SIT probing the alleged phone tapping during the previous BRS regime has issued a notice to the party's working president K T Rama Rao to appear before it here on January 23 for examination, sources said. Responding to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) notice issued to him, Rao told reporters that it is a "diversion tactic" being used by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy from his "failures".

"What is there in the SIT? If Reddy says sit, then SIT will sit. Reddy was not able to rule the state for the past two years. It is just to divert people's attention from the failures of poll promises. We will appear," he said. Rao downplayed the phone tapping allegations, saying that governments would usually tap phones as part of security measures and law and order and senior police officials should answer if there was such activity during the BRS rule, not politicians.

"It is an absolute trash case. ‘Bakwas’ (nonsense) case. Even police officials who are investigating the case know that," he charged, asserting that he has not committed any crime.

He asked if any official can openly say that BRS leaders’ phones are not being tapped. Rao further alleged that phones of some of the ministers and BRS leaders are being tapped by the Congress government.

Senior BRS leader and MLA T Harish Rao was on January 20 questioned by the SIT in the case. Former Telangana intelligence chief T Prabhakar Rao, the prime accused in the case was earlier questioned by the SIT.

A suspended DSP of Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) was among four police officials who have been arrested by Hyderabad Police since March 2024 for allegedly erasing the intelligence information from various electronic gadgets as well as for alleged phone-tapping during the previous BRS regime. They were subsequently granted bail.

Harish Rao's examination was solely in connection with the phone tapping case, wherein serious allegations with respect to widespread unauthorised and illegal surveillance, monitoring, and interception of phone calls of politicians, businesspersons are being investigated, Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar had said.

A detailed investigation has been going on into the case with the first chargesheet having been filed against certain accused persons, police said.

What is there in the SIT? If Reddy says sit, then SIT will sit. Reddy was not able to rule the state for the past two years. It is just to divert people's attention from the failures of poll promises. We will appear

K T Rama Rao,BRS Working President