The phone-tapping case in Telangana has been grabbing headlines since last year. In 2023 December, the Congress party formed the government in the state, after the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lost the elections. For the first time since 2014, after bifurcation, the party was relegated to the role of an opposition party.
A few months later, based on a complaint by a senior police official, the government pursued a case of illegal phone tapping which allegedly took place when BRS party was in power. It was revealed that hard disks containing data was missing which led to the formation a special team (SIT) to probe the matter.
Former IPS officer Prabhakar Rao’s professional and personal movement coincided with the political developments of the state. Known to be close to former CM K. Chandrashekar Rao, he headed the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) during the BRS government. He continued in the service after retirement as BRS government retained him. Just a day after election results were announced, Rao resigned from the post. A few months later, when the phone tapping case was being pursued, he left for the United States. He has been named as the prime accused in the case in which the investigating officials found that he and his team illegally tapped into calls of politicians of various parties, judges, journalists and civil society members.
#Telangana: Former Special Investigation Bureau ( SIB) Chief Prabhakar Rao who is embroiled in the Phone tapping case has finally returned to Hyderabad.
— @Coreena Enet Suares (@CoreenaSuares2) June 8, 2025
He is likely to appear before the Investigating agency this week.
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Further, the SIT has also alleged that records related to phone tapping were destroyed just before the congress government assumed power. Though a couple of police officials named in the case were arrested and probed, two accused remained at large in the US. One of them, a businessman and news channel owner, Shravan Rao, returned in March and appeared before the officials. He is accused of helping setup surveillance machinery on his property.
Prabhakar Rao who too was in the US for 15 months citing ill health returned after the Supreme Court provided interim protection from arrest. He was quizzed for the entire day. The SIT officials are hoping for a breakthrough in the case now that the main accused is in their custody since the case has been progressing slowly.
