A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials on Thursday searched senior IPS officer Alok Kumar Singh's premises in Bengaluru and questioned him over the alleged phone-tapping of politicians and officials during the previous JD(S)-Congress coalition government between June 2018 and July 2019.
A 20-member CBI team searched Alok's residence and office, and interrogated him to ascertain on whose behest phones of politicians, rebel MLAs of the then ruling combine and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with officials, including some police officers, were tapped, police officials said.
The CBI, however, declined to comment on the raid, saying the inquiry is underway. Alok was alone at his residence when officials from the CBI came knocking. His office on Nrupathunga Road was also searched.
Alok, a 1994 batch IPS officer, is the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) since August 2, after a 45-day tenure as the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner since June 17.
The CBI took over the phone-tapping case on September 1 from the state Special Investigation Team (SIT) after Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on August 19 asked it to probe the reasons for tapping phones, allegedly on former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's orders.
Kumaraswamy, however, denied ordering tapping of phones and expressed willingness to face any inquiry to clear his name.
Alok is one of the officials whose name figured in the audio tapes along with that of present city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao, who is alleged to have lobbied for the post of Bengaluru Commissioner with a senior Congress leader (Ahmed Patel) and a power-broker Faraz Ahmed, the official recalled.
Alok is alleged to have given a pen drive to Kumaraswamy, in which phone conversations of the Congress-JD(S) rebel legislators with BJP leaders and others were recorded before and after they resigned, which led to the fall of the 14-month government on July 23. This is an offence under the Information Technology and the Indian Telegraph Act.
Soon after assuming office on July 26, Yediyurappa ordered the SIT probe into the phone-tapping on a complaint by some rebel legislators and his party leaders. The case was initially probed by Cyber Crime and the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The snooping came to light after a part of the phone conversation between Rao and Ahmed got leaked to the media and was aired on local news channels in July.
Name of former PWD Minister and elder brother of Kumaraswamy -- HD Revanna -- is also said to have figured in the tapes in the context of transfer-posting of the IPS officers.
With IANS inputs