Phone Tapping Case @ Telangana: Another Wicket Down?

The Congress government in Telangana is largely coming down on the phone tapping operation that was allegedly commissioned by the previous BRS government.

On one hand, the SIT, investigating authorities are questioning the likes of KCR, KTR and Harish Rao in connection with this phone tapping case. And on the other hand, certain bureaucratic and judicial measures are being taken against those who are involved with this operation.

Telangana government has taken a big decision as another top cop had started to face the music and has lost his DSP rank.

The police officer in question here is Dugyala Praneeth Rao, who is allegedly facing allegations in this phone tapping case and even has a criminal case filed against him.

Allegedly, he had an exclusive and dedicated leased line with internet connection. Through this setup, he allegedly developed profiles of unknown persons and monitored them clandestinely, without authorization and illegally.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that Praneeth, by misusing and abusing his official position, regularly copied intelligence information into his personal drives such as pen drives and external disks, which were under his custody.

Now the latest news is that the Telangana government has removed the DSP ranking for Praneeth Rao and demoted him to CI position. This is a significant downgrade in the police ranking system and perhaps a strong measure taken by the government.