Phone-tapping case: Supreme Court extends ex-SIB officer Prabhakar Raos custody till December 25
The Supreme Court ordered the police to release him on Dec 26 and to not take any adverse action against Prabhakar Rao till the next hearing.
Hyderabad: In a significant development in the phone-tapping case, the Supreme Court has extended the police custody of former Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) officer T Prabhakar Rao till December 25 and ordered the police to release him on December 26 and that no adverse action should be taken until the next hearing. The top court ordered him to cooperate with the investigation, tv9 telugu reported.
During the hearing, the state government counsel argued that Prabhakar Rao did not cooperate during the one-week custodial interrogation and that they need a few more days of custodial investigation.
Telangana forms new SIT:
Telangana government has formed a new Special Investigation Team (SIT), which will be supervised by Hyderabad CP VC Sajjanar to investigate the phone-tapping case during the tenure of the BRS government.
The order issued by Telangana DGP Shivdhar Reddy said that the nine-member SIT will investigate the case and file a chargesheet in an expeditious manner.
Who is in the SIT?
The nine-member SIT will include Ramagundam Police Commissioner Amber Kishore Jha, Siddipet CP SM Vijay Kumar, DCPs Ritiraj, K Narayan Reddy, Greyhounds Group Commander M Ravinder Reddy, Additional DCP KS Rao, ACP P Venkatagiri, DSPs CH Sridhar and Nagender Rao. ACP P Venkatagiri, who has been heading the investigation since March last year, will be the investigating officer.
Ex-SIB officer Prabhakar Rao surrenders:
The new SIT has been formed, just a week after ex-SIB officer T Prabhakar Rao surrendered before the Jubilee Hills Police ACP P Venkatagiri, on Supreme Court orders.
Prabhakar Rao has been accused of illegal surveillance on several individuals under the BRS government. He had formed a team to tap phones of those working against the then BRS government. The team tapped phones of prominent businessmen, journalists, celebrities, civil society members and court judges. Others arrested in the case include former DSP D Praneeth Rao, former DCP Radhakishan Rao, additional superintendents of police N Bhujanga Rao and M Tirupathanna.
After the BRS was defeated in 2023 Assembly elections, Prabhakar Rao resigned from the SIB and left for the US just before a case was registered against him. He returned to India in June 2025.