Hyderabad, Dec 12 ( LatestNewsX )— Former head of the Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau, T. Prabhakar Rao, turned himself in to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that’s looking into the phone‑tapping scandal on Friday.
A day after the Supreme Court’s order, the ex‑IPS officer surrendered at the Jubilee Hills police station for a custodial interrogation.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court granted the team a week to question Prabhakar Rao in custody. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan directed that he be held for questioning, ensuring no physical abuse or undue hardship. The court also permitted him to receive meals from home and regular medication.
These directives were issued as the court heard Prabhakar Rao’s request for anticipatory bail.
Earlier in the case, the Court requested that the former SIB chief disclose the correct ID and password for his iCloud and other cloud backups to the investigators.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, speaking for the state, informed the bench that Rao had only restored passwords for two of his five iCloud accounts.
The Court was also told that Rao had destroyed the data and discarded the hard drives in a river.
Representing Rao, senior counsel Ranjit Kumar explained that one account’s password couldn’t be reset because the associated US phone number was deactivated and could not be re‑activated.
Kumar added that the data was deleted following official procedure as directed by the Review Committee, noting that minutes from the committee’s meeting on 2 December 2023 would prove this.
Prabhakar Rao is alleged to have masterminded illegal surveillance of high‑profile figures during the BRS regime. It’s claimed he set up a special squad within the SIB to tap phones of those opposing the BRS government.
The unit supposedly monitored phones of Congress and BJP leaders, businesspeople, celebrities, journalists, civil society activists and even judges.
The allegations surfaced in March 2024 when former Deputy Superintendent of Police D. Praneeth Rao was arrested after a complaint from his superior.
Police subsequently arrested former Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Radha Kishan Rao and additional superintendents N Bhujanga Rao and M. Thirupathanna.
After the BRS lost the 2023 elections, Prabhakar Rao stepped down and fled to the United States just before charges were filed against him.
On 29 May 2025, the Supreme Court ordered that an emergency travel document be issued so Rao could return to India.
Following that order, Rao came back on 8 June, as per the undertaking he gave the Court.
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