The Telangana government has constituted a new nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) on December 18, to probe the phone tapping case, under the overall supervision of V C Sajjanar, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City.
The officers appointed to the SIT are Ambar Kishore Jha, Commissioner of Police, Ramagundam; S M Vijay Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Siddipet; Ritiraj, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Madhapur; K Narayan Reddy, DCP, Maheshwaram; M Ravinder Reddy, Group Commander, Greyhounds; K S Rao, Additional DCP, Rajendranagar; P Venkatagiri, ACP, Jubilee Hills, who will serve as the Investigating Officer; Ch Sridhar, DSP, Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau; and Nagender Rao, DSP, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited.
The SIT will examine all aspects related to the alleged phone tapping, including procurement and use of surveillance equipment, authorisation procedures, data access, and possible violations of law. SIT has been mandated to conduct a thorough and time-bound investigation.
The team brings together senior officers with experience in law and order, intelligence, technical investigation, and specialised operations, indicating the complexity and sensitivity of the case. It is also expected to analyse technical records, digital trails, and official files to establish how the alleged surveillance was carried out and who was responsible at various levels.
On December 18, 2025, just days after former SIB chief T. Prabhakar Rao, a close KCR aide, surrendered, the Congress government announced a fresh Special Investigation Team (SIT) to fast-track the 21-month-old probe.
Background:
The phone tapping case involves allegations of illegal surveillance by the state’s Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (2014–2023) government, led by K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). It centres on unauthorised interception of calls and the creation of secret profiles on over 1,000 targets, including opposition leaders from Congress and BJP, journalists, judges, businessmen, and activists perceived as anti-BRS.
The case broke in March 2024 when Hyderabad Police arrested suspended SIB DSP D. Praneeth Rao after he attempted suicide and confessed to erasing evidence, including data from servers and phones, to cover up the operations.
