Overview
- Telangana’s DGP constituted a nine-member Special Investigation Team under Hyderabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar to probe alleged illegal surveillance tied to the 2023 state elections.
- Assistant Commissioner P. Venkatagiri is the designated investigating officer, and the SIT has been directed to complete the probe and file a charge sheet expeditiously.
- The Supreme Court extended police custody of former SIB chief T. Prabhakar Rao for further interrogation and ordered his release on December 26 with no coercive steps thereafter, subject to his cooperation.
- Investigators allege phones of roughly 600 people were tapped, including politicians, business figures, journalists and judges, and that SIB resources were misused for partisan purposes.
- Hyderabad Police previously arrested multiple officers since March 2024 over alleged phone-tapping and destruction of evidence, with several later granted bail under IPC and IT Act provisions.