Allegations of tapping phones of opposition leaders have surfaced against K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi. The names include celebrities, businessmen and present chief minister Revanth Reddy.
It has been alleged the surveillance was utilised to blackmail businessmen to cajole them into contributing huge amounts to the party fund.
The BRS is yet to respond to the allegations.
Meanwhile, three senior police officers have been arrested in this connection and a lookout notice has been issued against T Prabhakar Rao, former chief of the state intelligence bureau, who is reportedly in the US now.
Police said two senior officers — Additional Superintendent of Police Bhujanga Rao and Additional Superintendent of Police Thirupathanna — have admitted to illegal surveillance and destruction of evidence.
According to reports, Ravi Paul, a technical consultant with the state intelligence bureau under the then BRS government, had allegedly helped import and set up phone-tapping equipment near the residence of Mr Reddy to listen in on his conversations.
The equipment used was allegedly imported from Israel using a software company as the front. No permission from the Centre — a must for such imports — was taken, it is learnt. With this setup, anything spoken within a range of 300 metres could be heard, reports say.
It is alleged that Paul has set up an office near Mr Reddy’s residence and installed the device. Police are set to question him in this connection.
Lookout notices have also been issued for Sharvan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel, I News, and Radha Kishan Rao, a police officer with the city task force.
It has been learnt that the tapping of phone conversations led to the divorce of a celebrity couple, reports say.
To add to the BRS’s troubles, Chief Minister Reddy has received a complaint from Saran Chowdary, a businessman and a BJP leader, alleging that senior police officers kidnapped him last year and forced him to sign off a plot of land to a relative of former minister and BRS leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao.
The businessman has said he had approached the High Court after the incident.