Explosive Claims Shake Up Telangana’s Political Scene
In shocking news, former Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Radhakrishna Rao has made serious charges against the Telangana Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. Rao says a well-funded and secret operation was set up before the November state election to spy on and gather information about political opponents and possible threats to the power of the party that was in power at the time.
Rao said that this claimed spying operation went after many different types of people, such as media moguls, retired police officers, politicians from different parties, and even real estate and construction businesspeople. The goal was supposed to be to make detailed files on anyone seen as a possible threat to the BRS’s power.
In the crosshairs are high-profile targets
It is said that this operation’s targets included well-known people in the media like Narendra Choudary of NTV and Vemuri Radhakrishna of ABN, as well as former police officer RS Praveen Kumar and Warangal MP Kadiyam Srihari. Also said to have been watched were Patnam Mahender Reddy, a former BRS minister who now works for the Congress party, and his wife Sunita Reddy.
It is said that this spying was also aimed at opposition party leaders like Saritha Thirupathaiah of the Congress, who ran for and lost the Gadwal Assembly seat to BK Mohan Reddy of the BRS.
Claims of a Mastermind and Operational Details
Ravi K. Rao says that T. Prabhakar Rao, who was head of the Special Intelligence Bureau at the time, planned this secret mission. Once people were marked as possible threats, Praneeth Kumar, who is the deputy head of the Intelligence Bureau, was allegedly told to make detailed profiles of them to deal with these “perceived risks.”
People from business and other fields were also allegedly spied on to find out their possible ties to opposition parties or rival groups within the BRS. The claimed spying wasn’t just done on politicians.
Getting around privacy rules
Reports say that as word spread about the spying operation, some well-known people, like managers, judges, and politicians, stopped making direct phone calls and instead used encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal to stay private.
In response, Prabhakar Rao and his team are said to have bought and looked at Internet Protocol Data Records (IPDRs) to listen in on phone calls. This has raised new moral and legal worries about the illegal use of public resources and technology for personal or political gain.
Unsettling claims about the media
One particularly worrying claim is about Sravan Kumar, an iNews reporter. Radhakrishna Rao says that Kumar met with T Prabhakar Rao directly during the state election campaign in October and November of last year. This was at the request of T Harish Rao, the leader of the BRS and nephew of former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. At the time, T Harish Rao was a cabinet member.
Rao says that information gathered about opposition leaders and the people who gave them money was sent to the Intelligence Bureau by Kumar and then used to go after enemies during operations to seize their cash. Kumar is also said to have helped Praneeth Kumar run trolling campaigns against people who were against the BRS.