Hyderabad: During the Telangana state Assembly elections held in 2018, the Intelligence wing tapped nearly 10,000 phone numbers. A majority of the numbers reportedly belonged to police officials.
A list of top police officers who had conversations with Opposition leaders was handed over to the TRS top brass, said a source. The phones were tapped from the time the election code was imposed till the date of voting.
It is learnt that a number of bureaucrats who were not in favour of the TRS retaining power in the state were extending support to the Opposition. So confident were they that the Opposition would come to power, that a certain circle of bureaucrats had already discussed what posts and positions they would occupy in the new regime.
Following a drift towards the Opposition, the TRS leadership, which sensed a tilt ahead of the elections, at least in IPS circles, decided to keep tabs on their conversations.
A source told this newspaper that TRS leaders suspected that some IPS officers who were in contact with Opposition leaders would help them to mobilise cadre and funds.
“But no such grave incident was reported during the conversation when it was intercepted,” the source added.
A senior bureaucrat, who did not want to be named, said that “there were inputs of a possible connection between a few police officers with the Congress, but no incriminating evidence was found during conversations to take punitive action against them. But the fact remains that a few officers were in touch with senior Congress leaders. This has put them on edge as the list of names has been sent to the TRS top brass.”
Tapping conversations during elections is a routine job, the senior bureaucrat said. If sources are to be believed, even party functionaries have tapped phone numbers of their respective opposition leaders.
