Telangana phone tapping row: Special 'Revanth team' kept 24x7 watch on CM Reddy during KCR rule

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy

As many as 25 policemen were part of a team that was tracking Telangana chief minister Reventh Reddy when he was in the opposition when K Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS was in power, The Times of India has reported quoting sources.

The surveillance was carried out after Reddy made personal attacks on the BRS leaders, including then CM Rao.

According to the report, the "most trusted and efficient officers" were picked to head the surveillance and were assigned various tasks to track Reddy.

The team allegedly tapped his phone, kept a watch near his Banjara Hills home and even monitored those offering financial support to his campaign during the elections.

The report comes amid a political controversy erupting in the state after several senior Congress leaders, including K Mahendra Reddy from Sircilla and Mahbubnagar MLA Yennam Srinivas Reddy, complained that their phones were illegally tapped during the assembly elections.

Sources told TOI that though the government put several opposition leaders under surveillance, Reddy was the prime target.

It said that BJP leader Eatala Rajender was a close second.

The report said that the special "Revanth team" in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) had been tracking him from 2018 until the assembly election results were declared in December 2023.

It is alleged that nearly 100,000 phone calls were illegally monitored during the BRS rule.