Cops want 2 tapgate fugitives declared proclaimed offenders

THE Hyderabad police have filed a petition in a city court seeking to declare two absconding accused in the phone-tapping case as proclaimed offenders.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Hyderabad

The accused persons are: T Prabhakar Rao, former OSD of Telangana Special Intelligence Branch (SIB), and A Sravan Rao, the owner of a vernacular TV channel.

The petition was filed under Section 84 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). A senior police official confirmed that the court is expected to deliver its order in the first week of February.

Under Section 84 of BNSS, a court can issue a written proclamation which requires an accused to appear in the court within a minimum of 30 days from the date of publication of the notice.

Apart from this, Section 85 (1) of BNSS allows the court to order the attachment of any movable or immovable property belonging to the proclaimed offenders. According to sources, the accused allegedly created profiles of 18 Telangana High Court judges during the previous BRS regime. An official source told TNIE that forensic reports from Bhujanga Rao's devices revealed this information.

"They created profiles of 18 judges, but this does not necessarily mean they spied on them. It was done as part of their job," the sources said.