- BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of illegal phone tapping
- Phones of BRS, Congress, BJP leaders, citizens, and celebrities allegedly under surveillance, claimed the MLA
- An SIT is actively probing widespread allegations of illegal phone tapping during BRS government
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy has accused Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of orchestrating widespread illegal phone surveillance.
In a press conference, Padi Kaushik Reddy made a dramatic claim that the phones of prominent BRS leaders, including former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), KT Rama Rao (KTR), and T Harish Rao, are being illegally tapped.
He also asserted that phones of leaders from the Congress and BJP, as well as private citizens and even female celebrities, are under surveillance, with private hackers allegedly being hired for this purpose.
Kaushik Reddy shockingly claimed that the Chief Minister himself had admitted to phone tapping, stating it was necessary to know "what was going on."
He also alleged that his wife's phone was being tapped and that Revanth Reddy had used information gleaned from tapped conversations between two ministers to reprimand one of them.
Demanding an investigation by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kaushik Reddy questioned why a case had not been registered on his earlier complaint regarding phone tapping.
These accusations from Padi Kaushik Reddy come on the heels of similar claims made by BRS working president K T Rama Rao. KTR had previously launched a scathing attack on CM Revanth Reddy, accusing him of tapping the phones of his own cabinet colleagues, including Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, and Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy.
KTR had even challenged Revanth Reddy to undergo a lie detector test to prove his innocence.
The ruling Congress has vehemently denied the allegations of current phone tapping. In response to KTR's claims, Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, in a counter-attack, alleged that KTR himself had ordered the tapping of his sister K Kavitha's phone when the BRS was in power.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has also publicly denied KTR's claims about his phone being tapped.
Meanwhile, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is actively probing widespread allegations of illegal phone tapping that occurred during the previous BRS rule. The SIT's investigation has revealed an extensive scope of surveillance, with reports indicating that phones of politicians, businessmen, judges, journalists, and even IPS and IAS officers were allegedly tapped.
Former Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief T Prabhakar Rao is a prime accused in this ongoing investigation, and several police officials have been arrested.
Various leaders, including Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, have testified before the SIT, claiming their phones were also illegally intercepted during the BRS tenure.
