In a sensational development late on Tuesday night, the Election Commission ordered sudden transfer of Andhra Pradesh intelligence chief A B Venkateshwara Rao on the charges of telephone tapping of YSR Congress party leaders.
The EC also transcerred two other IPS officers. – Venkata Ratnam of Superintendent of Police, Srikakulam and Rahul Dev Sharma, SP of Kadapa, who were allegedly working for the Telugu Desam Party interests.
In the orders, the EC directed that Venkateshwara Rao, who was recently promoted to the rank of director general, be attached to the police headquarters. He was asked to hand over the charge to a senior most officer in the Intelligence department.
The Commission also ordered that the SPs too be transferred from their positions and attached to the police headquarters.
It strictly said both Rao and the two SPs should not be assigned any election-related work till completion of the ongoing elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha.
The EC acted swiftly on a complaint lodged by YSR Congress party general secretary and Rajya Sabha member V Vijay Sai Reddy. In his letter on Monday, Sai Reddy complained that the state intelligence department had been resorting to illegal surveillance and interception of telephones of the party leaders.
He mentioned two examples of telephones of Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy and Talasila Raghuram being tapped by the police department.
The evidences were gathered from telecom service providers. In the last four and a half years, telephones of several YSRC leaders were tapped, he alleged.
“We are neither criminals nor anti-social elements. How can the police indulge in such illegal activity?” Reddy asked.
