SIB ex-chief, former min likely to be booked in snooping case

Hyderabad: In the ongoing investigation into phone tapping allegedly resorted to by the previous BRS govt against its political adversaries, police have now found out that social media scraping was also done extensively by the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), using different software tools.It is learnt that apart from SIB former chief T Prabhakar Rao, police are contemplating making a key minister of the BRS govt as an accused in the illegal surveillance case. The role of a sitting MP, former MP and an MLC in the phone tapping issue has also come under the radar of investigating officers. They were allegedly in cahoots with SIB top brass and used to send lists of numbers or names of those who were to be kept under surveillance, sources said.During the probe, investigators stumbled upon a few software tools, which keep surveillance on social media users in the shortest time by scraping the data. Scraping is the practice of gathering data online automatically, using social media scraper bots, which browse social media platforms and websites and copy information they are programmed to gather.Sources said this sort of 360 degree surveillance mechanism -- phone tapping, physical spying and social media tracking -- was allegedly done under the supervision of Prabhakar Rao against targeted persons. The extensive usage of illegal phone tapping and other surveillance methods meant how physical spying has evolved over a period of time, especially during the 2019 Lok Sabha election, a source said.Sources said it all started a few months prior to the Dec 2018 assembly elections and at that time, SIB officials were little inexperienced to take full advantage of different surveillance devices, which were purchased from abroad.“After gaining expertise, it was extensively used during the by-elections in Dubbak, Huzurabad and Munugode and it became a regular practice. Much before the Nov 2023 assembly elections, surveillance on opposition leaders and BRS rebels was used vigorously. This intelligence information was shared to a specialised wing in Hyderabad police who used to threaten BRS party’s political adversaries and businessmen to mend their ways,” a top source said.SIB teams used to take photographs, do recordings and gather other means of evidence against the targeted persons, including tracking their movements, sources said. “Armed with this evidence, a wing of Hyderabad police would swing into action and act accordingly,” the source said. Meanwhile, police custody of the arrested SIB former DSP D Praneeth Rao ended on Saturday.Investigators had earlier alleged that 50 hard disks that had sensitive data, including on Naxals, had been cut with electric cutters. CCTVs had been turned off by a hired electrician.