Telangana HC notices to top police officials in phone tapping case second accused plea for bail

Telangana High Court issues notices to top police officials in bail petition for DSP in telephone tapping case.

Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court on Friday (December 6, 2024) issued notices to top police officials in a writ petition seeking bail filed by a police officer Dugyala Praneeth, who had been incarcerated in telephone tapping case for past nearly nine months.

In addition to Special Chief Secretary (Home), Hyderabad Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West-Hyderabad), Panjagutta Assistant Commissioner of Police, notices were also issued to the investigating officer of telephone tapping case (Jubilee Hills ACP). They were directed to respond to the notices by December 23.

Praneeth, who was working as DSP in Special Intelligence Branch (SIB), is the second accused in telephone tapping case registered by the Panjagutta police based on a complaint lodged by an Additional SP of SIB accusing him of tapping mobile phones of some persons at the behest of political bosses during the BRS government. The then SIB chief T. Prabhakar Rao, who allegedly left the country and reportedly sought political asylum in U.S., was made the first accused in the case during the subsequent investigation.

Soon after his arrest in March this year, Praneeth filed a criminal revision case in the High Court questioning the order of the lower court handing him over to police custody for questioning. The High Court dismissed the petition. He eventually filed a bail petition in the case in the lower court which too was dismissed. The suspended and jailed DSP filed the fresh writ petition seeking bail and a direction to set aside the lower court order denying bail to him.

Senior lawyer Uma Maheshwar Rao, appearing for the petitioner, contended that the investigating officer of telephone tapping case had claimed the investigation was not complete despite having filed charge-sheet in the lower court. The IO should have confidence that probe was completed once the charge-sheet was filed in the court. The petitioner was entitled for bail from the date of filing charge sheet, he said.

Government Pleader for Home Mahesh Raje informed the court that the first accused T. Prabhakar Rao and the sixth accused A. Shravan Kumar Rao were absconding and left the country after the case was registered. In their absence, four other police officers, retired officer P. Radhakishan Rao, and serving officers D. Praneeth, N. Bhujanga Rao and M. Thirupathanna, were arrested.

The charge sheet was filed to the extent of evidence secured from the arrested police officials but further details were yet to be secured from the first accused Prabhakar Rao and hence the investigation was incomplete, the GP argued.