Two more senior police officials have been arrested by Hyderabad Police in connection with the case of phone tapping and destroying certain computer systems and official data. During investigation, Additional DCP Thirupathanna and Additional Superintendent of Police N Bhujanga Rao, were arrested, an official release from Hyderabad police late on Saturday night said.
The two law enforcement officers had previously served in the Intelligence Department and Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) as Additional Superintendents of Police. They were charged with conspiring with D Praneeth Rao, the suspended DSP of the SIB, who had already been detained by Hyderabad police on charges of purportedly tapping phones and deleting intelligence data from different electronic devices under the previous BRS administration.
“During the questioning, the two police officials have confessed about their involvement in the reported crimes including conspiracy to monitor private persons illegally by developing their profiles abusing their official positions; to cause disappearance of evidence by destroying the public property to conceal their involvement in collusion with the already arrested D Praneeth Kumar alias Praneeth Rao, DSP (under suspension) and some other persons”, the release said.
It was reported that Praneeth Rao was detained on March 13 by the police. They claimed that he had created profiles of unknown people, secretly and unlawfully monitored them, and deleted certain computer systems and official data. The police stated that more investigation is being done on the matter. Recently, Rao was suspended by the Telangana government.
He was employed by the Director General of Police (DGP) after serving as a DSP under the previous BRS administration. He has already been charged with snooping in on opposition party leaders’ phones. A case of criminal breach of trust by a public official was launched against Praneeth Rao and others at the Panjagutta police station on March 10th, following the submission of a complaint by an assistant superintendent of police of the SIB.
(with PTI inputs)
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