The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday called for the arrest of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao citing allegations of phone-tapping that have emerged against him.

BJP National General Secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar made the demand a day after a purported confession by former Deputy Commissioner of Police (Hyderabad City Task Force) P Radhakishan Rao implicated the Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader.

While the confession was made on April 9, its details became public on Monday when the Hyderabad Police submitted it to a city court.

The Hyderabad Police are investigating allegations that the phones of politicians, officials and activists were tapped during the tenure of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana. K Chandrashekar Rao was the chief minister of Telangana from June 2014 to December 2023.

The former police official claimed in his confession that anyone who spoke out against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, or anyone perceived to be a threat to the party, was placed under extensive electronic surveillance, The Indian Express reported.

P Radhakishan Rao also alleged that the former chief minister, whom he referred to as Peddayana, wanted BJP National General Secretary BL Santhosh to be arrested in a case about an alleged attempt by the Hindutva party to poach Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLAs in 2022.

According to the former police official, K Chandrashekar Rao wanted to force the BJP into a compromise by arresting Santhosh. He intended to leverage this situation to get the Enforcement Directorate to drop the charges against his daughter, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, in the Delhi liquor policy case, reported India Today.

“However, due to the inefficiency of some Cyberabad police officers in Kerala, one important person escaped police apprehension,” the confession of the former deputy commissioner of police reportedly read. “The case went to the High Court where no arrest orders were issued, and then the SIT case was transferred to CBI.”

P Radhakishan Rao reportedly claimed that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader was “very angry” that the task was not completed as per his expectations.

Kumar on Tuesday said it was now evident that K Chandrashekar Rao “wanted to fabricate the MLA poaching case as a quid pro quo to protect his own daughter”. He asked why the Congress government in Telangana had not arrested the former chief minister.

“Why hasn’t the main accused, Prabhakar Rao, been brought back from the USA?” the BJP leader also asked. “His arrest could reveal more facts about corrupt practices of the BRS government.”

Former Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau chief T Prabhakar Rao has been named as the prime accused in the phone tapping case.