Telangana Phone-Tapping Scandal: Prime Accused Prabhakar Rao Surrenders After SC Orders Immediate Custody
Ex-intelligence Chief Prabhakar Rao finally in custody.
T Prabhakar Rao, the former Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) and prime accused in the sensational Telangana phone-tapping scandal, surrendered before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) at 11 am on Friday, barely 24 hours after the Supreme Court issued a stern directive mandating his immediate surrender for custodial interrogation.
The apex court, while hearing Rao’s plea on Thursday, categorically rejected any further protection from arrest and ordered him to appear before the investigating agency without delay. The bench made it clear that continued evasion would not be tolerated in a case involving grave abuse of state machinery and violation of citizens’ fundamental right to privacy.
Rao, who had been evading authorities for months, had quietly returned to Hyderabad from the United States only after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a related matter. Sources indicate that the former intelligence czar chose to surrender rather than risk contempt proceedings and forcible arrest, marking the end of his prolonged absence from the country during the peak of the investigation.
Also Read: Ex-Telangana SIB Chief Ordered to Surrender in Phone-Tapping Case
The case, registered in March 2024 by the Hyderabad Cybercrime Police, alleges that a clandestine operation run directly from the office of the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) illegally tapped telephones of senior politicians across party lines, high-ranking police officers, prominent businessmen, journalists, film personalities and journalists. The scale of surveillance is believed to be unprecedented in the state’s history.
With Prabhakar Rao now in custody, the SIT is expected to intensify interrogation to unravel the full extent of political patronage behind the operation, identify beneficiaries of the illegally obtained information, and trace the chain of command that allegedly weaponised state intelligence for partisan gains. The development has sent shockwaves through political circles in Telangana as the probe inches closer to higher echelons of power.
Also Read: Ex-Telangana SIB Chief Ordered to Surrender in Phone-Tapping Case
