Khammam: Telangana Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Wednesday claimed that illegal phone tapping is still ongoing in the state, pointing to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) without naming it directly, and promised that those responsible would face “strict and uncompromising action.”

Addressing a press conference in Khammam, the Minister said the government has already launched inquiries to determine where surveillance equipment was installed and who orchestrated the operation.

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“Phone tapping had taken place earlier and was continuing even now. This is absolutely true. Some individuals are indulging in these illegal activities. We will bring out who the masterminds are and where the equipment was installed,” he said.

Earlier, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy accused the previous BRS regime of blackmailing businessmen and extorting hundreds of crores of rupees through phone tapping. Speaking at a public meeting in Chelpur, Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, ahead of the February 11 municipal elections, the CM referred to the BRS as the “Blackmail Rajakeeya (Political) Samiti.”

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“They engaged in telephone tapping and did not spare opposition leaders, high court judges, or even journalists. They eavesdropped on private conversations between husbands and wives, listened in on film stars, and even blackmailed businessmen. Is there anything more atrocious on earth? Is there a greater sinner than them?” Reddy alleged.

He added that Telangana BJP MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy had claimed his phone was tapped. “Phones were tapped, land buyers were blackmailed, and crores of rupees were collected through electoral bonds,” the CM said.

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“I want to say officially that the BRS, which extorted crores of rupees through telephone tapping, should be called the Blackmail Rajakeeya Samiti,” Reddy asserted. He further claimed that the party used phone tapping to collect Rs 1,500 crore in electoral bonds.

“Whose money is this? Is it not true that thousands of crores in assets and hundreds of acres of land were bought cheaply and taken by threatening businessmen?” Reddy asked, questioning why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy had not intervened.

He warned that the sins committed by the BRS would not go unpunished. “The BRS will be buried under the weight of these sins,” he said.