KCR yields: Ex-Telangana CM agrees to police questioning after ‘notice on wall’ drama in Hyderabad
KCR's son and BRS working president K Taraka Rama Rao posted on X that the people of Telangana will give a befitting response to the Congress for dragging KCR into a false case.
Former chief minister of Telangana, K Chandrashekar Rao, will appear before the Special Investigation Team tomorrow in connection with the alleged phone-tapping case, sources close to him told The Indian Express.
This puts an end to the tug-of-war between the Telangana police and KCR over where he would appear for questioning. On Thursday, when KCR was asked to appear before the SIT, he asked the police to record his testimony at his current residence, a farmhouse, in Siddipet district, and that too at a convenient date.
To this, the SIT replied, in a notice pasted on the compound wall of KCR’s official residence, that he will have to appear at his “residence on record”, which is his house at Nandi Nagar in Hyderabad. The SIT asked KCR to appear for questioning at 3 pm on February 1.
It is to this second notice that KCR has agreed, with some reluctance. In a reply to the SIT, he wrote, “From the legal provisions and judgments of the honorable Supreme Court and various High Courts, it is clear that pasting of the letter (second notice) dated January 30 on the compound wall of the house in Nandi Nagar is no notice in the eye of the law and the same is contrary to provisions of section 62 of CrPC… You have no jurisdiction and authority to issue notice to me for the purpose of recording my statement,” he wrote.
“Notwithstanding the above legal position, I, being a former Chief Minister for the State of Telangana and the present Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, and also as a responsible citizen of this country, in order to assist the department in the investigation of the subject crime, I would be available for my examination at 3 pm on 01.02.2026 at Nandi Nagar residence as you are keen to record my statement there only,” he wrote.
A BRS source said there is significant discomfiture in the party over the way he was served the notices. “An ACP-level official will question him; it’s an insult. Expect a protest at Nandi Nagar in Hyderabad tomorrow,” a source close to KCR said. The BRS maintains that the current Congress government is carrying out “vendetta politics” in the case.
KCR’s son and BRS working president K T Rama Rao posted on X that the people of Telangana will give a befitting response to the Congress for dragging KCR into a false case.
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The case pertains to the phones of BRS rivals allegedly being tapped when the party was in power in the state. Currently, the accused in the case are Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) chief and IPS officer
T Prabhakar Rao, Deputy Superintendent of Police D Praneeth Rao, Additional Superintendents of Police M Thirupathanna and N Bhujanga Rao, former Superintendent of Police P Radhakishan Rao, and a TV channel owner, A Shravan Kumar Rao.
SIT sources had earlier claimed that they had evidence to prove that at least 600 phone numbers tapped by the SIB under Prabhakar Rao were not related to Left Wing Extremism. The SIB was set up in 1990 to track and prevent the activities of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). The SIT sources had told The Indian Express that their net has widened to include the alleged illegal access of Call Data Records and Internet Protocol Data Records of thousands of people.
The SIT is headed by Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar.
Nikhila Henry is an Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Hyderabad. With a career spanning 17 years, she has established herself as an authoritative voice on South Indian affairs, specialising in the complex intersections of politics, education, and social justice.
Experience & Career: Nikhila commenced her journalism career in 2007 as an education correspondent for The Times of India in Hyderabad,where she gained recognition for her coverage of student politics. Her professional trajectory includes a four-year tenure at The Hindu, where she focused on minority affairs and social welfare. In 2019, she took on a leadership role as the South Bureau Chief for The Quint, where she directed regional coverage across all five South Indian states. Her expansive career also includes a tenure at the BBC in New Delhi and contributions to prestigious international outlets such as The Sunday Times (London) and HuffPost India.
Expertise & Focus Areas
Nikhila’s reportage is marked by a deep-seated understanding of grassroots movements and institutional policy. Her core focus areas include:
Regional Politics: Comprehensive analysis of the socio-political dynamics across South India.
Education & Student Movements: Chronicling the evolution of Indian academics and the rise of youth activism.
Minority Affairs: Rigorous reporting on the welfare, rights, and challenges facing marginalized communities.
National Beat: Elevating regional stories to national prominence through investigative and on-ground reporting.
Authoritativeness & Trust
A respected figure in Indian media, Nikhila is not only a seasoned reporter but also an accomplished author and editor. She authored the critically acclaimed book The Ferment: Youth Unrest in India and edited Caste is Not a Rumour, a collection of writings by Rohith Vemula. Her dual background in daily news reporting and long-form authorship allows her to provide readers with a nuanced, historically-informed perspective on contemporary Indian society.
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