Leaders of opposition parties in Telangana met the state's Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar on Thursday and submitted a letter alleging that their phones were being tapped and selective searches of their vehicles were being carried out by the state machinery.
All the representatives of the 'Mahakutami' or grand alliance were present, including Telangana TDP President L Ramana, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, Telangana Jana Samithi President M Kodandaram and Communist Party of India (CPI) State Secretary Chada Venkat Reddy.
After meeting with the political leaders, Rajat Kumar said that he would look into the allegations and take it up with the state police for further action.
Speaking to reporters, Kodandaram said, "We have information that they are tapping our phones. We came to know that they (government) acquired equipment to tap and listen to WhatsApp calls also. Intelligence officials are saying this. Earlier they used to tap selectively. After the announcement of elections, all the phones are being tapped. We condemn such activities."
Earlier in the day, Uttam Kumar Reddy took to Twitter and said, "DIG Prabhakar Rao and his cronies are snooping illegally on all opposition leaders including me during this election campaign. They are brazenly violating all known election norms for free and fair polls. I urge Election Commission to take serious cognizance of this matter."
He also alleged that another senior police officer had asked his task force to "specifically search (and harass) cars of opposition leaders only".
"All these illegal and partisan acts will be dealt with very severely by the next Congress-led government," Uttam said.
However, caretaker Minister KT Rama Rao dismissed the allegations and said, "For your information Uttam garu, the Telangana Police headed by DGP Mahendar Reddy garu has been consistently rated as the best and is a role model to the country in maintaining law and order. Let’s not unnecessarily politicize and demoralize hardworking Telangana officers."
The Telangana elections are scheduled to be held on December 7 and the counting of votes will take place on December 11.