Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar will appear before Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the phone-tapping case, as a witness.
He has requested the SIT to examine him and his personal assistants at 12 noon on August 8 after the SIT issued a notice, requesting him to intimate date and time of his convenience for the examination.
Ahead of his appearance before the SIT, the minister met some officials of his ministry. He also had discussion with few retired police officials, especially those who served in Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) and Intelligence wing.
Bandi Sanjay alleged that his phones, his family and his staff’s phones were tapped during the rule of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
The SIT headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Jubilee Hills Division, Hyderabad, wanted to examine the MoS and his personal assistants on July 24.
However, the ACP was requested to postpone the same to July 28 due to Parliament session. He later requested the investigation officer to examine them on August 8.
After receiving the SIT notice on July 17, Bandi Sanjay had said that former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) committed the crime of phone tapping but he got the invitation as witness.
The MP from Karimnagar assured that SIT that he would fully cooperate so that the truth comes out.
Leaders of some political parties including Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud, BJP MP and former minister Eatala Rajender have already deposed before SIT as witnesses.
The phone tapping allegations came to light in March last year, a few months after BRS lost power to the Congress party.
Police last year arrested four police officials in the case. They were later released on bail.
Former chief of State Intelligence Bureau SIB Prabhakar Rao, who is the main accused in the case, returned from the United States in June on the direction of the Supreme Court. He has been summoned by SIT multiple times for questioning.
When BRS was in power, a team was allegedly constituted in SIB to tap the phones of leaders of opposition parties, dissidents within BRS, businesspersons, celebrities, journalists and even judges. There are allegations that phones of about 600 people were tapped.
(IANS)
