Phone Tapping case: BJP's Bandi Sanjay to appear before SIT on Aug 8
Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay is set to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on August 8 in connection with the ongoing phone tapping case.
Earlier when he was called for inquiry on July 21. Bandi Sanjay had requested to postpone the inquiry citing the ongoing Parliament monsoon sessions. As he will be in New Delhi to attend the Parliament session he requested to postpone the latter date. It was learnt that SIT had called him to appear on August 8. In a notice issued under section 160 of CrPC, the SIT has requested Bandi Sanjay for appointment to record his statement in connection with the investigation into phone tapping. Sanjay reportedly confirmed to appear.
“KCR did the crime of Phone tapping and now I got the invitation as witness. My phone, my family’s, my staff’s - no one was spared. That’s how low they stooped. The truth will come out. Satyameva Jayate,” Bandi Sanjay posted on social media platform X after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) requested to examine him earlier.
Background of the case
According to the police the accused indulged in tapping the phones and recording the phone conversations of several private individuals. They conspired together by using technology, unauthorizedly and thus, created profiles of targeted political leaders and their supporters, monitored locations using their phones, and seized cash.
A case was booked against former Special Intelligence Branch(SIB) chief Prabhakar Rao Thatiparthi, Praneeth Kumar alias Praneeth Rao Dugyala, Bhujanga Rao Nayini, Thirupathanna Mekala, Former Task Force DCP Radhakishan Rao Potlapally, and Aruvela Shravan Kumar Rao. All of them were arrested.
It is alleged that after the then ruling party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lost in the Assembly elections, all the accused formatted their phones. One of the accused, Dugyala Praneeth Kumar, damaged the hard disks of the Special Intelligence Branch's computer systems, causing evidence to disappear. This resulted in the loss of huge sensitive data that was collected by the Police over decades to curb anti-social activities, consequently posing a serious threat to State security, said a police official privy to the investigation.