BRS demands independent probe into phone tapping allegations against Revanth Reddy

The BRS has accused CM Revanth Reddy of phone tapping political rivals and journalists. They want an independent probe supervised by the Telangana High Court, claiming the current SIT is biased and spyware like Pegasus was misused to suppress dissent

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has demanded an independent inquiry under the supervision of Telangana High Court into the alleged phone tapping by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. The party also demanded that the Congress government submit in a sealed cover the full list of numbers tapped over the last two years to the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.

BRS leader and former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar said Revanth Reddy authorised surveillance on political opponents, Cabinet colleagues, journalists and even senior Congress leaders. He said, as the Chief Minister himself admitted to the phone tapping, questions were being raised on the credibility of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) currently probing the phone-tapping case against the previous BRS regime.

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“As SIT functions under the direct control of the Chief Minister and cannot act independently, it should be dissolved and the probe handed over to an independent agency, monitored continuously by the High Court,” he said, calling for questioning senior officials, including former DGPs, Intelligence IGs and Home Secretaries, over their role in the alleged surveillance over last two years, as was done with regard to the officials allegedly involved in phone tapping during the previous BRS regime.

Praveen Kumar accused the Revanth Reddy government of misusing sophisticated spyware like Pegasus, possibly in collusion with the BJP-led Centre, to target rivals and suppress dissent. He demanded the constitution of a committee to authorise any interception, chaired by the Chief Minister, with senior Opposition leaders, a retired Chief Justice, and a former DGP as members, to prevent future misuse.

“Illegal snooping has become a tool to protect the Chief Minister’s chair. Telangana needs a transparent, court-monitored investigation to restore trust,” he said.