BENGALURU: What started as a tussle between two senior IPS officers for a plum posting is turning out to be full-fledged war between the ruling BJP and JD (S), whose leader H.D. Kumaraswamy was recently dethroned as chief minister.
The investigation into the audio gate scandal that rocked the state will be handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), sources said.
The preliminary report of the investigation by Joint Commissioner (Crime) Sandeep Patil into the leakage of the alleged conversation between Faraz, a power broker, and the current city police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has stumbled upon a major scandal.
Fingers are now being pointing towards the involvement of former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s office in the incident. Ruling BJP, which is elated by the development, now wants to put the opposition JD (S) on the mat.
“Wait till August 19. Let Chief Minister Yediyurappa complete the visit of flood affected areas and return to Bengaluru.
Strict legal action will be taken against the culprits,” sources elaborated.
The former Chief Minister’s office with the help of ADGP had misused the facility at City Crime Branch (CCB) to tap the conversations of his political rivals. This ADGP had got the conversations tapped by the inspectors attached to CCB.
The report stated that even the phones of Congress leader Siddaramaiah, his personal assistant Venkatesh and media secretary K.V. Prabhakar were tapped.
BJP leaders R. Ashok, Aravind Limbavali, Dr C.N. Ashwath Narayana, S.R. Vishwanath, Shivana Gouda Nayak, Yediyurappa’s personal assistant Santhosh, Sriramulu, Bheema Nayak and Nagendra’s phones were tapped illegally to know about the ‘Operation Kamala’ strategies. The phones of Yediyurappa’s son B.Y. Vijayendra, C.P. Yogeshwar were also tapped.
Taking advantage of this situation, the ADGP who was monitoring the illegal telephone tapping, had tapped senior IPS officers cell phones whom he perceived to be his competitors to the race of the post of commissioner of police.
Sources revealed that BJP’s attempts to topple the government were foiled as the then ruling JD (S) was tapping the phones of all those MLAs who were found to be negotiating with BJP.
It is also said that Bhaskar Rao’s phone was tapped three times when he was KSRP ADGP.
DG &IG Neelamani Raju to whom the report had been submitted will take a decision after consulting the Chief Minister.
It is said that, though the police department will recommend the investigation by an independent agency or by Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the BJP is likely to hand over the case to a Central agency.
The state BJP unit will take a decision in consultation with the central party leadership.
Apart from politicians and IPS officers, some private individuals’ phones were also tapped. The preliminary report reveals that telephone tapping was done from the days of Mandya by-elections to Lok Sabha elections.
