Phone Tapping case: Harish Rao's name surfaces in Shravan Kumar's bail plea

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of Aruvela Shravan Kumar Rao, the sixth accused in the controversial phone tapping case.

Senior counsel representing Shravan Kumar argued he was not a criminal but a political analyst and managing director of the Telugu news channel “I News.” Further, senior counsel informed the court that Shravan Kumar was residing in the U.S. due to fears of wrongful arrest and provided his U.S. address, mobile number, WhatsApp contact, and email ID and sought for bail.

While countering the bail plea, Public Prosecutor(PP) Palle Nageshwar Rao informed the court that former minister and BRS leader Harish Rao introduced Shravan Kumar to SIB chief T. Prabhakar Rao, main accused in the phone tapping case.

Prosecution opposes bail plea of phone tapping accused

Further, PP alleged that Shravan Kumar provided a list of high-profile targets for surveillance, including opposition leaders, party leaders, and a sitting High Court Judge, whose phone conversations were monitored.

The Public Prosecutor described Shravan Kumar as a key player in the conspiracy, working closely with the then Hyderabad Police Commissioner’s Task Force chief, Radha Kishan Rao, currently in judicial custody. According to the PP, Shravan Kumar played a pivotal role in tapping the phone conversations and tracking the movements of politicians, legislators, and others.

Justice G. Radha Rani sought clarification from the Public Prosecutor on whether investigators were prepared to question Shravan Kumar if the court granted him bail with the condition of surrendering. The PP assured the court that instructions would be obtained by Friday.