The case involves allegations of illegal phone tapping of opposition leaders ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, with several senior police officers having already been arrested.
Published Jan 23, 2026 | 11:10 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 23, 2026 | 11:23 AM
BRS Working President KT Rama Rao. (X)
Synopsis: BRS Working President KT Rama Rao appeared before the Special Investigation Team of Hyderabad police for questioning in the alleged phone tapping case during the previous BRS regime in Telangana. Ahead of the questioning, KTR told the media that he was in no way connected with the case.
BRS Working President KT Rama Rao appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad police on Friday, 23 January, for questioning in the alleged phone tapping case during the previous BRS regime in Telangana.
The SIT issued a notice under Section 160 of the CrPC to Rama Rao (KTR) on 22 January. The questioning is scheduled from 11 am on Friday at the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in the Jubilee Hills Police Station in Hyderabad.
Ahead of the questioning, KTR told the media that he was in no way connected with the case.
“There is nothing in this case. I am in no way connected with it. I will attend questioning by the police, no matter how many times they call me. This is part of the attention diversion strategy of Revanth Reddy to cover up his failures. Revanth Reddy is tapping the phones of leaders of our party, including the ministers in his own Cabinet,” KTR said.
The former minister alleged that the case against him is a political vendetta.
“This is nothing but a political vendetta. We have a chief minister who is involved in note for vote scam. We will not leave Revanth Reddy, who has betrayed the trust people had reposed in him. We will bury Congress for good,” he said.
Meanwhile, heavy police deployment and tight security arrangements have been made at the Jubilee Hills Police Station to maintain law and order, based on similar measures during the recent questioning of BRS leader T Harish Rao in the same case.
The notice was served at KTR’s Nandi Nagar residence in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Ahead of appearing for the questioning, KTR slammed the Congress and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy over an alleged malicious propaganda campaign against him.
“I have been working for my state for the past 20 years. We achieved Telangana by facing and overcoming all the conspiracies hatched by the governments and political leaders of the united Andhra Pradesh era. The Congress party conspiring against us is nothing new. After the formation of the state, whatever responsibility was entrusted to us for this region, we discharged it with complete dedication and without sparing any effort,” KTR said.
“We never indulged in time-pass politics. We never dragged our political opponents, opposition leaders, or their families into politics, nor did we harass them by slapping false cases. However, over the past five to six years, the Congress party has carried out an intense campaign of malicious propaganda against me.
They tried to trap me in various allegations, including linking me with heroines in drug-related cases. Not just me, they subjected my family and my children to severe mental harassment.”
“Despite all this, I was never afraid. Even now, in the phone-tapping issue, I am not afraid of anyone’s conspiracies. I have been summoned for questioning in the phone-tapping case. I will attend, and I want to ask them a few questions. Over the past two years, like a daily serial, leaks have been given to malign my character. Is there even a single piece of evidence to support these allegations? Why is there such propaganda based solely on media leaks, without a single official piece of evidence?”
Further, he questioned top police officials regarding phone tapping.
“I will ask whether even one police officer in this state can say that telephone tapping is not taking place. Will DGP Shivadhar Reddy come forward and say that telephone tapping is not happening in the state? Will Sajjannar come forward? Will the Intelligence IG come forward? I will ask these questions. This entire phone-tapping drama is being run by Revanth Reddy only to divert attention from the Singareni coal scam exposed by our party,” KTR said.
“A coal mining scam involving thousands of crores of rupees took place, with his brother-in-law at the centre of it. So far, the Centre has not responded to this issue. Without fearing anyone and without bowing our heads, we will fight as proud sons of Telangana. As KCR’s soldiers, we will work unitedly until we make KCR the chief minister once again. I thank everyone who has come forward to express solidarity.”
“We will continue our fight — up to our last breath — against the failures of the Congress party and the corruption of Revanth Reddy. Even if diversionary games are played, like Arjuna’s unwavering eye, our struggle will remain firmly focused on Revanth Reddy’s corruption and the implementation of the promises made by the Congress party,” he added.
Earlier, during BRS leader and former minister T Harish Rao’s questioning, advocates accompanying him were not allowed entry into the ACP office, which triggered protests by BRS leaders and lawyers.
Similarly, no one except KTR will be allowed inside the premises of the police station.
The case involves allegations of illegal phone tapping of opposition leaders ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, with several senior police officers having already been arrested.
As a precaution, the police have arrested the activists of the youth wing of the BRS. Student leaders of the BRS at Osmania University were detained on Thursday night itself.
The police have also made preventive arrests of BRS activists in several parts of Hyderabad. As there is police security, vehicular traffic is affected, and there are restrictions on the movement of vehicles within a radius of 500 metres of the Jubilee Hills Police Station.
The phone-tapping case centres on alleged surveillance by the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samiti regime.
It is alleged to have targeted high-profile individuals, including political leaders, journalists, bureaucrats and celebrities, under the pretext of monitoring Maoist activists.
To carry out the tapping, the SIB allegedly misused Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act. The provision allows the Union or State governments to intercept communications in situations of public emergency or public safety.
The SIB is accused of supervising the tapping of more than 4,000 phone numbers belonging to a wide range of high-profile individuals.
The operation reportedly began as early as 2018, intensified during the 2021 Huzurabad by-election, and continued until the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court dismissed a Special Leave Petition filed by the State challenging earlier orders of the Telangana High Court quashing the FIR registered at the Panjagutta police station against Harish Rao.
The High Court held that there was no material to establish his involvement in the alleged phone tapping.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed in 2024 by Siddipet-based real estate businessman Chakradhar Goud.
He alleged that his phone was tapped during the tenure of the previous BRS government at the insistence of Harish Rao and former Deputy Commissioner of Police (Task Force) P Radha Kishan Rao.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Raj Rayasam.)
