Ex-CM Chandrasekhar Rao summoned to appear before SIT in phone tapping case

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Telangana police has for the first time issued a notice to former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to appear before it and record his statement for an examination in the phone tapping case. The allegations were made during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime, sources were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

To serve the notice, some SIT officials visited KCR’s residence at Nandi Nagar in Banjara Hills. He was served the notice under CrPC 160. The SIT has already recorded statements of his son KT Rama Rao and nephews T Harish Rao and Joginipally Santosh Kumar.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) asked KCR, as Rao is addressed, to appear before it here on January 30.

The SIT informed Chandrasekhar Rao through a notice that, given his age is over 65, Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows him the option of appearing at the Jubilee Hills Police Station or suggesting any other location in Hyderabad that would be convenient for questioning.

Previously, BRS Working President and KCR’s son KT Rama Rao, as well as senior party MLA T Harish Rao, had appeared before the SIT on January 23 and January 20 respectively in relation to the same case.

This apart, some other BRS leaders were among those who were recently summoned and questioned by the SIT.

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 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.

(With agency inputs)