Hyderabad: T. Prabhakar Rao, the former SIB chief and key accused in the phone tapping case, is expected to arrive in Hyderabad soon and appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the phone tapping case.
Prabhakar Rao, who has been in the United States for the past few months, has approached the Indian Embassy in the United States, applying for the re-issue of his passport and permit to emergency travel to India. He sent some correspondence to the SIT officials on Sunday informing that he would appear before the police for questioning before June 5.
Recently, the Supreme Court directed the police not to take any action against Prabhakar Rao till further orders in the phone tapping case and asked him to appear before the police within three days of his arrival in Hyderabad.
Last year, the Panjagutta police registered cases against G Praneeth Rao and others following a complaint lodged by the SIB officials alleging that more than 10 hard disks, which had many files, were burnt following the instructions of Prabhakar Rao.
During the course of investigation, the police named Prabhakar Rao as accused No 1 in the case. The police later arrested several police officers, including P. Radha Kishan Rao, M. Thirupatanna, N. Bhujanga Rao and G. Praneeth Rao.
The police alleged that Prabhakar Rao intercepted the phone calls of several political leaders, including then TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy and his family members, BJP leaders, Tollywood actors and journalists.
The data was stored in hard disks, which were hired from a private firm. Days after the Congress came to power, Prabhakar Rao allegedly gave instructions to Praneeth Rao to destroy the disks, and files stored at the SIB.
A day before the police filed the cases, Prabhakar Rao fled to the US and he did not return to Hyderabad ever since citing health grounds. When he refused to appear before the police, authorities revoked his passport and wrote to CBI seeking directions to Interpol to issue a red corner notice.
