BJP ups ante to mount pressure on State govt

Hyderabad: The State BJP on Tuesday demanded the probe into phone-tapping should be from June 2014 instead of 2016.

Addressing the media here, party Medak MP candidate M Raghunandan Rao questioned the selective probe into phone-tapping scam.

Recalling his complaint to the DGP that his phone was tapped during the Dubbaka by-election, he said the DGP had asked for evidence. ‘Now the DGP should act investigating the role of the then district collector and current BRS Medak MP candidate Venkatarami Reddy and former State Minister T Harish Rao.

Similarly, recalling the claims of a former police officer Radhakrishna recovering Rs 3.5 crore from the house of a relative of the then BJP candidate in Munugodu by-election Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, he said " I appealed to the Congress MLAs Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy and Vivek Venkataswamy to take up the issue for a comprehensive probe into phone-tapping during the Munugodu by-election."

He said it is not possible to tap phones without directions from the CM. Hence KCR should also be probed by covering phone-tapping of CM A Revanth Reddy in 2015, instead of keeping it aside, he demanded.

"Everyone during the probe into phone-tapping scam is reportedly claiming that they have tapped phones on instructions of senior police official Prabhakar Rao. In turn Rao had reportedly called the current SIB chief Sumathi Reddy and questioned calling his son and daughter-in-law to the police station. He reportedly told the current SIB chief that they had tapped phones following the directions of the then government similar to the way the police currently probing the phone-tapping scam at the instance of the current dispensation.

Rao demanded the CM to disclose full details of phone-tapping scam rather than disclosing selective and half-truths. Describing the phone-tapping investigation following an understanding between the Congress and BRS, and the current government trying to protect the BRS chief, he demanded discloser of phone-tapping of four MLAs to fix the BJP national leader BL Santhosh, and the then Cybderabad Police Commissioner Stephen Ravindra claiming to have found Rs 30 crore in a car during the incident. He asked where the Rs 30 core vanished

Rao said he had already lodged a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate on the issue.

Meanwhile, BJP LP leader Maheshwar Reddy demanded the CMinister to order a CBI probe into the Dhrani land scam. He recalled Reddy's allegations against the BRS government involvement in irregularities relating to Miyapur/assigned/temple/wakf lands. He demanded a comprehensive probe. Reddy said the Centre had released funds for a land survey project but it was not carried out. Demanding a CBI probe into the land scams, he said the issue would also be taken to the Centre’s notice. he expressed doubts over sincerity of the State government in probing land scams during the BRS regime. Alleging that the Congress struck a deal for a 40% cut in the amount involved against the backdrop of Telangana turning into an ATM for the Congress to fund its LS elections.