B S YediyurappaThe Bengaluru police on Monday registered a formal complaint over the alleged tapping of phones of political leaders, their associates and government officials during the tenure of the Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka, and the government issued an order transferring the case to the CBI as announced by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday.
The CBI has been mandated to carry out investigations regarding tapping being done over the past one year.
“It has come to the notice of the government that there are apprehensions that phones of several ruling and Opposition political leaders, their relatives and other government officials have been intercepted in an illegal/unauthorised/unwanted manner,’’ the state home department stated on Monday in its preamble to the order directing transfer of the case to the CBI.
An FIR has been registered at the Bengaluru City Cyber Crime police station by the Crime Branch.
According to the government order, the case is being transferred to the CBI on the recommendation of the state police chief Neelamani Raju for a probe by an independent agency. The CBI will conduct a probe “into all illegal/ unwanted/ unauthorised interceptions of telephones of political leaders belonging to the ruling party and opposition parties as well as their associates relatives and also government servants from August 1, 2018 to the date of this order,’’ states the August 19 order.
