Man, who worked in former minister Harish Rao’s office among three held in phone tapping case

Hyderabad: Three persons, including a man, who worked in the camp office of former health minister and BRS MLA T Harish Rao, were arrested in the case of alleged illegal surveillance of a real estate businessman from Siddipet district, police said.

The three persons--T Santosh Kumar, Parsharamulu and T Vamshi Krishna, "involved" in the commission of certain offences in the case, were arrested and remanded into judicial custody, a release from Hyderabad Police said.

The case was registered at Panjagutta police station on charges of criminal conspiracy for forgery, impersonation, attempted extortion and other offences, based on the complaint of G Chakradhar Goud from Siddipet.

The complainant had reported that he was put under life threat, torture, interference with his personal life through illegal surveillance, by some persons working in conspiracy.

He had also stated that he was receiving messages of blackmail on his WhatsApp from an anonymous WhatsApp account with a phone number from a unknown person.

Goud, who contested the 2023 assembly elections on a BSP ticket from Siddipet and lost, had earlier accused Siddipet MLA Harish Rao, the nephew of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, of using state intelligence to monitor his movements and those of his associates and family members.

The complainant had suspected that Harish Rao influenced police officials to monitor his activities.

Based on the complaint, police had registered the case on December 1, 2024 naming Harish Rao as A1 and former Deputy Commissioner of Police P Radha Kishan Rao as A2, and others.

During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that Santhosh Kumar, who operates a shop at Siddipet had issued a SIM card illegally using the personal identity documents of a villager to Parsharamulu and Vamshi Krishna who had conspired with some other persons to procure fake SIM card and used it to send threatening messages to the complainant (Goud) to extort money and to scare him from indulging in his social activities in Siddipet constituency, the release said.

Accused Vamshi Krishna, earlier worked in the camp office (Peshi) of Harish Rao, the then Health Minister until December 2023, it said.

Incriminating evidences were also seized from the three arrested accused persons during the investigation, it said. Further investigation is under progress, police added.