Hyderabad: In a significant development in the Telangana phone tapping case, the Passport Authority of India has officially cancelled the passport of now suspended Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) Chief T Prabhakar Rao, a key accused in the case. Passport authorities informed about the cancellation to the Hyderabad police.

The decision was taken following the Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol. Prabhakar Rao, is currently residing in the United States, and has allegedly applied for a Green Card there. Following the cancellation of his Indian passport, Prabhakar Rao’s Green Card application has reportedly been rejected.

His involvement in the phone tapping case is considered crucial, and Indian authorities are intensifying efforts to bring him back for questioning. The Telangana police, in coordination with Interpol, are working to ensure Rao’s return to India. The matter has also been escalated to the US Consulate and the Union Ministry of External Affairs for diplomatic intervention.

Moreover, the Special Investigations Team (SIT) probing the phone tapping case asked journalist Aruvela Shravan Kumar Rao to surrender his mobile phone. He has been asked to surrender the phone along with SIM cards within a week.

He had gone for questioning in the case at the Jubilee Hills ACP office. According to reports, he had recently returned from the US after the government canceled his passport and appeared before SIT for the first time on March 30.

Shravan is accused number six in the phone tapping case which occurred during Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in the build up to the Telangana Assembly elections.