Phone tapping row: Bandi Sanjay urges CBI, ED intervention

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Friday demanded that the Congress government seek the assistance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to trace the money laundering trail in the alleged phone tapping case during the previous BRS regime.

Speaking to the media after deposing before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Hyderabad, the senior BJP leader and Karimnagar MP alleged that during former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s tenure, former Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief Prabhakar Rao and his close aides, including Praveen Rao and Radhakishan Rao, blackmailed politicians and contractors under the pretext of Maoist surveillance, extorting large sums of money.

“Where did all the money, including ₹7 crore extorted from a Congress Party candidate in Khammam go?” he asked. Mr. Sanjay Kumar claimed that except for KCR, K.T. Rama Rao and Santosh Kumar, phones of all other BRS leaders, including Kavitha and T. Harish Rao, were tapped. He alleged that over 6,500 phones were under surveillance during that period, severely damaging the reputation of the SIB.

He further stated that phones belonging to his associates, himself, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, judges, and several others were illegally monitored during the BRS government’s tenure. He questioned why the Congress government has not made any arrests so far.

“We have nothing against the SIT, but why is the Chief Minister not appearing before it? Will they dare summon judges to depose? Who is Mr. Revanth Reddy to give a clean chit to KCR? Why mislead the public with commissions and probes?” he asked, referring to recent remarks made by the Chief Minister in Delhi.

The Minister questioned whether the Congress government has the ‘guts’ to arrest KCR or his family members for their alleged involvement in phone tapping and other scams worth thousands of crores. “It’s been over a year since Mr. Revanth Reddy took charge, but apart from time-pass commissions and probes, there has been no concrete action against BRS leaders despite overwhelming evidence,” he said.

“Doesn’t this suggest an understanding between the Congress and BRS? We don’t trust this government. KCR is influencing Congress leaders in Delhi with his ill-gotten wealth. His corruption has become an ‘ATM’ for the Delhi leadership,” alleged the BJP leader.

Mr. Sanjay Kumar asserted that if the case were handed over to the CBI, KCR and KTR would already be behind bars. “You (Congress govt.) do not have the courage to act against them, then what’s your objection to handing over the case to the CBI?” he asked.