Bandi: SIB turned into extortion racket

Hyderabad: Union minister of state for home Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Friday alleged that the previous BRS regime had illegally tapped over 6,500 phones, including that of the current Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and questioned why he was yet to depose before the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the illegal phone tapping case.

Speaking to reporters after appearing before the SIT, Sanjay said that that phones of ministers, MLAs, judges and senior political leaders, including Harish Rao, were intercepted. He said his own phone was tapped continuously, exposing what he called the BRS regime’s large-scale abuse of power. Phones of all the leaders except Chandrashekar Rao, K.T. Rama Rao and J. Santosh Kumar were tapped, he said, including those of Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter Kavitha and other senior BRS leaders.

The minister submitted two bundles of what he described as evidence to the SIT. He alleged that the then Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), originally meant to monitor Maoist and terrorist activities, was misused by the former chief minister and Rama Rao to carry out illegal surveillance on political opponents, business leaders, film personalities and academics.

He claimed that judges handling sensitive cases, such as the Group-1 leak case, were targeted, signalling a grave institutional breach. Sanjay accused certain SIB officers of corruption, alleging that they blackmailed and extorted crores from political leaders and contractors under the guise of intelligence gathering. He demanded strict punishment for officers such as T. Prabhakar Rao, former SIB chief, and Radhakishan Rao.

Among other claims, he pointed to the seizure of Rs 7 crore from a Khammam Congress MP candidate and criticised the Enforcement Directorate for not investigating the source of the money. He alleged that crores were extracted from Congress leaders in the name of intelligence operations during the BRS tenure.

He demanded an immediate probe into the alleged extortion racket linked to Chandrashekar Rao and senior SIB officers, urging the state government to write to the Centre to request a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry.

Despite the submission of evidence, no action has been initiated against the BRS top leaders or other key figures, Sanjay alleged. He asked why Revanth Reddy had not appeared before the SIT if he too was a victim of the phone-tapping scandal.

Accusing both past and present regimes of shielding the culprits, Sanjay called for all those involved — including Chandrasehkar Rao and his family members — to be summoned for questioning. He said the BRS regime had betrayed Telangana’s aspirations, exploiting regional pride for political gain while trampling on civil liberties through mass surveillance.

Sanjay called for an end to what he described as the Congress government’s "drama" around the SIT inquiry. He said only a CBI investigation could ensure justice and bring out the full extent of corruption and power abuse during the BRS rule. Slogans of "Jai Modi... Jai BJP" echoed at his press conference as he reiterated the demand for a transparent probe. The SIT session with Sanjay lasted about an hour. His personal staff members were also separately questioned by the investigators.

Before appearing before the SIT, Sanjay prayed at the Lord Hanuman Temple in Khairatabad. Hundreds of BJP workers gathered in support. From the temple, he walked along with them to the Dilkusha Guest House 400 metres away. A large police presence was deployed along Raj Bhavan Road to maintain order during the proceedings.