Amid the investigation in the Telangana phone-snooping row, a former top official has confessed that then Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao wanted to arrest senior BJP leader BL Santosh to force into a “compromise” and “get rid of the Enforcement Directorate case” against his daughter K Kavitha.
As per the confessional statement of former Deputy Commissioner of Police P Radha Kishan Rao, one of the accused in the phone tapping case, ‘Peddayana’ (an indirect reference to Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief and former CM K Chandrasekar Rao (KCR)) wanted the arrest of BJP National General Secretary, Organisation, BL Santhosh in connection with the case of alleged attempt to poach his party MLAs.
“A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed and KCR wanted the arrest of senior BJP leader Santhosh to make the case strong so that BJP would come for compromise and it can be used to get rid of the ED case on his daughter MLC K Kavitha. However, due to inefficiency of some police officials, one important person escaped police apprehension and later the case went to High Court where not to arrest orders were issued and then the SIT case was transferred to CBI,” the confession report said, reported news agency PTI.
Notably, Kavitha was arrested by the ED in March in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
‘Peddayana’ Gets Irritated By Dissent: Ex-Top Cop
The ex-Deputy Commissioner of Police, who was arrested in March, also claimed he had suppressed dissent or protest or agitation against the BRS and its government on the orders from the Chief Minister or his inside circle.
He further revealed that ‘Peddayana’ was very angry for not completing the work as per his expectation. Meanwhile, as per a report published in NDTV, the former cop, who was also a member of the Hyderabad City Task Force, said that KCR used to get “irritated by minor dissent or criticism”.
Rao reportedly informed investigators that anyone who voiced criticism of the BRS government or who was seen as a potential threat to the party was subjected to heavy electronic monitoring.
Who’s phones were tapped?
As per the report published in Mint, those under surveillance included former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar, former BRS leader and MLA Kadiam Srihari, former BRS minister T Rajaiah; former Tandur MLA Patnam Mahender Reddy, Congress leader K Jana Reddy and his two sons, and several district-level Congress leaders were also under put surveillance.
In fact, the movements of several industrialists, builders, businessmen, journalists and bureaucrats were also kept under watch.
BRS MLAs Poaching Case
The Telangana High Court had earlier transferred the investigation into the case of alleged attempt to poach BRS MLAs, from the SIT formed by the Telangana government, to the CBI.
Three people — Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji Swamywere were named as accused (A1 to A3) in the case after a complaint was lodged by then BRS MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy, among four legislators, against them on October 26, 2022.
The trio was arrested while they were allegedly trying to lure four MLAs of the ruling BRS to join the BJP. Subsequently, they were granted bail by the High Court.
As per the FIR copy, Rohith Reddy alleged the accused offered him Rs 100 crore and in return the legislator had to leave the TRS, now BRS, and contest as a BJP candidate in the 2023 Assembly polls.
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