Bandi pitches for CBI probe into snoopgate

Hans India

4 days ago

Hyderabad: Union Minister Bandi Sanjay, who appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the phone-tapping scandal on Friday, later accused the erstwhile BRS government and the current Congress regime in Telangana of 'colluding' to shield the 'real culprits' in the scam and called for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to get at the truth.
Speaking to the media, Sanjay claimed that he was shocked to know that 6,500 phones were kept under surveillance and that his phones were continuously tapped under the pretext of 'Maoist surveillance'.
'I was shocked to learn that not just my phone, but those of my staff, family members, and those of even KCR's daughter and son-in-law were tapped,' he said. 'I was the first to expose this issue.'
The Minister stated that he had submitted all relevant evidence to the SIT and was stunned by the revelations made during the inquiry. 'Whatever political programs I had planned, the police came to know in advance. They used to call our staff and confirm our plans. It was all because of phone-tapping,' he said.
Sanjay accused the previous BRS government of misusing the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), meant to monitor Maoist and terrorist activities, to tap phones of political leaders, businessmen, film personalities, and even professors. He alleged that even BRS ministers, MLAs, and MLCs were not spared, with SIT officials confirming that KCR's daughter Kavitha's phone was also tapped.
The Union Minister claimed that the phones of judges investigating the Group-1 paper leak case were tapped, and said the whole thing reeked of a 'new low' in political surveillance. 'When we discussed protest plans over the leak, police arrived at our homes in advance. That's how deep this surveillance went,' he said.
Sanjay also alleged massive financial irregularities linked to the phone-tapping operation. During the last elections, Rs 7 crore was seized from a Congress MP candidate in Khammam. However, only Rs 2 crore was shown in the records, and the rest was pocketed. This happened repeatedly,' he said.
Criticising Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Sanjay questioned why no action had been taken against the culprits despite the SIT having substantial evidence. 'Why hasn't a letter been written to the Enforcement Directorate? Why hasn't KCR or his son been summoned?' he asked. He accused Revanth Reddy of shielding KCR and claimed that both Congress and BRS were 'colluding' to delay justice.
Bandi Sanjay demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI, for the SIT lacked the authority to summon judges or top political figures. 'If the Congress government has any integrity, it should immediately request a CBI probe. BJP leaders have already approached the High Court seeking this,' he said.
Sanjay also questioned the continued presence of retired officer Prabhakar Rao in the SIB, alleging that he was falsely shown as IG to retain access to sensitive data. He accused the KCR regime of violating telecom regulations and ignoring Home Ministry guidelines on data deletion.
The Union Minister reiterated that SIT had evidence of thousands of phones being tapped, including those of BJP workers.
'Only KCR, his son, and MP Santosh were spared. Even Harish Rao stopped using a phone for a year after discovering this,' he said.
Concluding his statement, Sanjay expressed his willingness to cooperate with the investigation, and urged Revanth Reddy to appear before the SIT. 'If Revanth is sincere, he must write to the Centre for a CBI probe. Otherwise, this is just political theatre,' he said.
Sanjay, accompanied by party members, went to the designated location to appear before the SIT in a padayatra after visiting a temple.