Bengaluru: A CBI team investigating the hone tapping scandal in Bengaluru is making final preparations to investigate senior IPS officer Alok Kumar, highly placed sources said. The CBI team, which is already in Bengaluru, has expedited the investigation process.
The CBI has already accessed required documents, evidence and gadgets to take the investigation to the next level of interrogating senior IPS officers allegedly involved in the scam, the sources said.
It is learnt that the CBI will first question Joint Commissioner (Crime) Sandeep Patil, who conducted an inquiry into the telephone tapping case before it was handed over to the CBI. The CBI will ask Mr Patil as to why he backtracked from the investigation after submitting a preliminary report to the DG&IG.
CBI sleuths will then look into the audio leak case. They will meet Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao, on whose complaint the case was taken up for investigation.
Later, the CBI will knock on the doors of Mr Alok Kumar, ADGP, KSRP. The case is expected to take a sharp twist after the questioning of Alok Kumar and he will be required to answer questions on who gave him the authority to tap phones.
It is said that CBI teams have already visited the offices of CCB and another facility in Audugodi where the telephone tapping was being carried out.
CBI has gathered information from cell phone service providers for the last one year. It has also gone through the report submitted by Mr Sandeep Patil.
The CBI has already grilled key people involved in telephone tapping. They have reportedly given the names of those who ordered telephone tapping and revealed important information on audio leakage which allegedly contained the conversation between Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and a power broker, Faraz.
“Once Alok Kumar is questioned, he will have to answer who gave him instructions to tap phones,” the source said.
It is alleged that the then chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy gave orders to tap phones. But the central agency has still not decided on issuing a notice to the state JD(S) president.
