Phone Tapping Case: Former DSP Praneeth Rao's remand report

In the aftermath of the assembly election results, revealed sensational details have emerged from the remand report of former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Praneeth Rao, who has been arrested facing allegations in a phone tapping case. It is reported that on the night of December 4, immediately following the declaration of election results, Praneeth Rao destroyed all data from old hard disks using cutters and replaced them with new ones. This data, secretly accumulated over years, was disposed of as soon as the results turned out to be unfavorable for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

Upon his arrest, three mobile phones and a laptop were seized from Praneeth Rao. He is accused of engaging in activities like evidence tampering, destruction of government property, and tampering with electronic evidence. It was found that Rao conducted the phone tapping through 17 computers, specifically provided with an internet connection for this purpose. He reportedly recorded prominent calls secretly and transferred them to his personal pen drive. It was also revealed that several others were involved in these illegal activities along with him.

The report highlights that Praneeth Rao followed the instructions of a senior BRS leader to spy on specific phone numbers. NTV, a news channel, reported that Rao had been particularly focusing on who Revanth Reddy was meeting, providing detailed reports on these meetings to BRS leaders along with information related to financial matters.

It was identified by the police that Praneeth Rao had also tapped the phones of media moguls, alongside those associated with Revanth Reddy and individuals in his vicinity. Praneeth Rao tapped the phones of Revanth Reddy's brothers as well, and some media leaders' phone tapping came to light through chats, prompting police investigation based on these findings.