Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has stepped up its investigation into a phone tapping case. Journalist Aruvela Shravan Rao, who is the Managing Director of a media company, appeared before officials for questioning after avoiding them for over a year. He recently returned to Hyderabad.
On March 29, 2025, SIT officials questioned Rao for nearly six hours at the Jubilee Hills Assistant Commissioner of Police’s office. However, sources say Rao did not cooperate much during the session. He often claimed he didn’t know the answers and avoided giving clear responses.
The SIT is looking into several key areas of the case. First, they want to know who told Rao to get phone-tapping equipment and set up secret surveillance operations in places like Rajanna Sircilla, Mahbubnagar, and Warangal.
Second, officials are investigating whether Rao had any connections with top politicians and police officers during the time the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was in power. They are trying to find out if the phone tapping was done for political reasons.
Third, the SIT is working to understand how Rao accessed private information, how many phone calls were tapped, and what was done with the collected data.
After the initial questioning, the SIT sent new notices to Rao, asking him to appear again for more questioning on April 2, 2025.
In a legal update, the Supreme Court of India has given Rao temporary protection from arrest. This is on the condition that he fully cooperates with the investigation. The case gained attention after Revanth Reddy, former leader of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), accused the previous BRS government of using illegal surveillance. More details are expected to come out as the investigation continues.
