Former minister T. Harish Rao booked in new phone tapping case

Former minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader T. Harish Rao was booked in a new phone tapping case by the Panjagutta police on Sunday (December 1, 2024). File

A case has been booked against former minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T. Harish Rao by the Panjagutta police in Hyderabad on Sunday (December 1, 2024). The officials investigating the case confirmed that former DCP of Commissioner’s Task Force, Hyderabad, R. Radhakrishna Rao was also named in the case.

This follows a complaint lodged by Gadhagoni Chakradhar Goud, a businessman and founder of Farmer’s First Foundation, alleging threats, false cases and unauthorised surveillance of his phone by Mr. Harish Rao and his associates. An investigation has been initiated into the case.

Attaching a notification link from Apple, the complainant claimed that on August 28, 2023 he received an email warning him that his iPhone might be targeted by ‘State sponsored attackers’. “The email stated that such attackers could remotely access my sensitive data, communication, and even my devices microphone or camera. Although, I updated my phone following Apple instructions and suspected my phone being tapped but did not take immediate action as I was already dealing with multiple false cases,” the First Information Report (FIR) of the case reads.

The complainant claimed that Mr. Rao held a grudge against him for not inviting him to various charitable activities conducted by the complainant’s foundation in his constituency — Siddipet.

“Mr. T. Harish Rao along with others criminally conspired to harm me by falsely implicating me in fabricated cases tarnishing my reputation and attempting to discourage me from the continuing my charitable work. He even threatened with dire consequences including the possibility of killing me, if I did not stop my charity work in his constituency,” the document read.

The complainant further said that on April 28, 2023, police officials raided his Panjagutta office and produced him before Mr. Radhakrishna Rao, who further threatened him. “He offered me a “chance to live peacefully if I agreed to switch my party affiliation to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) otherwise threatened that they would finish my chapter. When I refused, he took my phone and took me to CCS police station where two more cases were registered against me. After several hours I was handed back my phone and I was sent to judicial remand,” the complainant claimed.

Further, the complainant claimed that during the election campaign he contacted numerous supporters and followers for meetings and rallies, many of whom later informed him that they received threat calls warning them not to attend his events. These individuals allegedly reported that the caller knew about their conversations and contact details, which led the complainant to lodge a complaint against the officials.

This comes at a time when an investigation into an earlier case of alleged phone-tappingunder the former BRS government, is underway and politicians linked to the case are being questioned. The controversy came to surface in March this year with the arrest of former DSP of Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) Praneeth Rao following a complaint by his superior D. Ramesh, additional SP with SIB.