A political controversy erupted as both the Congress and BJP alleged that their leaders' phones were tapped by the former BRS-led Telangana government, sparking demands for a comprehensive investigation into the matter.
On Tuesday, Telangana BJP chief and Union Minister Kishan Reddy demanded a judicial probe into the phone tapping allegations. He said that along with the phones of some of the people in politics, phones of some businessmen and officials were also tapped. Reddy further asserted that certain police officers behaved like a "mafia" by tapping phones and urged the state government to conduct a thorough investigation.
He emphasized that phone tapping is permissible only in matters of national security and with prior approval of senior officials and condemned the alleged misuse for corrupt purposes.
Tensions escalated following the recent arrest of two additional superintendents of police. Earlier, a DSP was also arrested in connection with alleged phone tapping of opposition leaders and tampering with official data during the previous BRS administration.
Kishan Reddy called for a judicial inquiry into the matter citing mounting evidence suggesting the tapping of phones belonging to BJP leaders, activists, and party office staff.
In a separate development, K T Rama Rao, the working president of the BRS, accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of diverting attention from pertinent issues by selectively leaking information to the media regarding alleged phone tapping during the previous BRS government.
"You (Congress government) promised Rs 2,500 financial assistance to women. It is not being implemented. You promised a Rs 4,000 pension to old people. It has not been implemented... In order to cover the failures, you are saying phones were tapped. You are not giving us the details (of phone tapping), but you are giving leaks to YouTube channels and some media," Rama Rao alleged, as per a report on PTI.
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