Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao on Monday set the ball rolling by lodging a case with the Bhavanipuram police station here accusing the Telangana government of tapping Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s phone and citing Section 26B of the Indian Telegraph Act.
Other party functionaries filed cases in Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Chittoor and Kadapa districts, citing the Information Technology Act, and several sections of the IPC: Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), Section 166 (misuse of power by a public servant), Section 153A (instigating tensions among people), Section 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with the intent of harming one’s reputation), Section 464 (creation of a false document or electronic record), Section 469 (public servants producing false evidence to damage reputation), and Section 470 (production of forged evidence).
Information and Public Relations Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy made it clear that the Andhra Pradesh government will take its case to the Central government and contest the definition of law and order functions in Hyderabad, the joint capital.
“He [Mr. Naidu] has been a Chief Minister for three terms. He is a politician with Z-plus category security. If his telephone can be tapped, what will be the fate of the common man?” he asked.
The Opposition YSR Congress too is planning to take matters to the Centre, with its president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy scheduled to travel to New Delhi for a meeting with the Union Home Minister and perhaps even President Pranab Mukherjee.
