Hyderabad: After more than a year on the run, A Sravan Kumar Rao, a senior executive of a vernacular news channel and an accused co-conspirator in the illegal phone tapping case, appeared before Jubilee Hills police on Saturday and underwent a seven-hour-long interrogation. Police later let him off but directed him to appear for further questioning on April 2.
Two days after arriving in Hyderabad, police served Sravan a notice summoning him for questioning, following which he appeared on Saturday morning. He is accused of providing details of certain individuals, who were later illegally placed under surveillance by the accused police officials.
Sources in Hyderabad police revealed that while Sravan answered some questions, he evaded others, particularly when pressed for specific details. “Some questions he answered, and some he avoided. Whenever he was asked to provide specific details, he dodged the queries,” a police source told TOI.
Although both Sravan and Prabhakar Rao stayed in the US during their absconding period, Sravan claimed he never met Prabhakar while abroad.
In the case, registered by Panjagutta police on March 10, 2024, six individuals, including five policemen, were accused of misusing the phone tapping system to conduct illegal surveillance on opposition leaders, including present chief minister A Revanth Reddy, allegedly to benefit the then BRS govt.
Following the registration of the case, former Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief T Prabhakar Rao and Sravan fled to the United States, citing personal reasons. Since then, both remained abroad until recent legal developments.
Hyderabad police recently secured a red corner notice from Interpol against both Prabhakar Rao and Sravan. In response, Sravan approached the Supreme Court seeking anticipatory bail, expressing his willingness to return to India. The Supreme Court directed Hyderabad police not to take any coercive action against him.