Former DGP Radhakishan Rao stated that the Special Task Force and SIB police worked diligently to ensure the victory of BRS for the third time. The phones of leaders from opposing parties were tapped, and their money transfer details were handed over.
He also mentioned that they acted upon the instructions of former intelligence chief Prabhakar Rao. Under his guidance, they carried out a ‘special operation’ with police members from the same community.
In the remand report submitted by the Panjagutta police to the Nampally court, it is clarified that Radhakishan explained the duties of Prabhakar Rao’s ‘Special Operation Team’, starting from the manner of phone tapping.
The police revealed in the remand report that Radhakishan Rao claimed the appointment of retired Prabhakar Rao as the Chief of Intelligence (OSD) was a strategic move by the leaders of the previous government.
Radhakishan took charge as DCP of the task force in 2017, retired in August 2020, and his tenure was extended twice by the government. The task force also ordered him to continue as DCP for three years in August 2023, which Radhakishan attributed to Prabhakar Rao’s influence.
The remand report states that Radhakishan mentioned Prabhakar Rao’s tireless efforts to ensure an unshakeable majority for BRS, with everyone in his teams expressing the goal of BRS winning. In the 2018 election, TDP candidate Bhavya Anand Prasad from Serilingampally seized Rs. 70 lakh cash at Secunderabad Paradise.
During the Dubbaka by-election, a chit fund company belonging to relatives of BJP’s Raghunandan Rao seized Rs. During the previous by-election, associates of Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy seized Rs. 3.5 crore in cash from the task force under the command of Inspector Srinath Reddy at Gandhinagar police station.
In this context, unless Prabhakar Rao is interrogated, it remains unclear who the real ‘boss’ is. Without him divulging information, identifying the key masterminds in this case seems unlikely.
