Hyderabad: Special Investigation Team (SIT) officials questioned former SIB chief Prabhakar Rao for a second consecutive day on Saturday. This was in connection with the Telangana phone tapping case.
The questioning took place at Jubilee Hills Police Station under the supervision of ACP Venkata Giri. Investigators focused on determining who ordered the tapping of phones belonging to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, politicians, journalists, and businesspersons.
Officials probe data destruction, private servers
SIT officials questioned Rao about the destruction of sensitive data at the SIB office. They specifically asked why the hard disks were wiped and where they were disposed of. Additionally, he was also asked about allegations involving the operation of three private “war rooms” and independent servers used to conduct the illegal surveillance.
Sources indicated that based on Rao’s disclosures, notices may be issued to other high-ranking officials. This includes any political leaders allegedly linked to the case.
Earlier, SIT teams recovered passwords for four Gmail accounts and two iCloud accounts connected to the investigation. The contents of these accounts were sent for forensic examination. Authorities are also coordinating with Apple and Gmail to retrieve synced data and missing records.
Key inputs expected before Supreme Court update
Investigators reportedly said Rao has remained silent on several critical questions. He appeared to withhold key information. SIT is racing to extract pivotal details ahead of a progress report due to be submitted to the Supreme Court on December 19.