Phone tapping case thickens as two more police officers arrested

The Panjagutta police have arrested two Additional Superintendents of Police, identified as Bhujanga Rao and Tirupatanna, in connection with the phone tapping case.

Officials close to the investigation said the two were accomplices of suspended DSP of Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) Praneeth Kumar aka Praneeth Rao and were arrested on similar charges.

These include conspiracy to develop profiles of private persons by misusing their official positions, conspiracy to destroy evidence of their illegal activities and disappearance of evidence. They put private persons under surveillance and misused their powers with politically biased intentions, said the officials.

This comes after a weeklong questioning of Mr. Praneeth Kumar, who is facing multiple charges, including criminal breach of trust, starting March 17.

The West Zone police questioned him about the contents of the hard drives he destroyed and the involvement of other officials. He will be produced before a court.

On March 13, Kumar was arrested by the Panjagutta police from his residence in Srinagar Colony of RajannaSircilla district following a complaint by his superior, Additional SPSIB D. Ramesh, stating that there had been “a concerning pattern of his behaviour during his time as an Inspector and later as DSP with the SIB from 2018 to 2023.”

As per the complaint, Mr. Praneeth was involved in dismantling and destruction of data in 42 hard drives and replacing them with new ones.

Moreover, he also dismantled and destroyed equipment containing data by turning off the cameras on the night of December 4, 2023, the day the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lost the Telangana Assembly Elections2023.

He was booked under sections 409, 427, 201 and 120 (B) of the IPC and under the Prevention of Destruction of Public Records Act (PDPP Act), 1984 and the Information Technology Act.