Well a phone taping saga is back to haunt an police department.An internal enquiry has now been ordered in the phone tapping controversy.
Enquiry ordered into phone tapping saga.
DG&IGP of Karnataka R K Dutta has ordered a departmental enquiry into the phone tapping saga that came to the notice of police department on November 2016.
What is the controversy all about .
Former Additional Commissioner of Police, KSR Charan Reddy, had complained to the former DG&IGP Om Prakash that his phone was taped by DCP Ajay Hilori during the time of Cauvery riots.Hilori was transferred to East Division after these allegations came to light.But the complaint was soon put to the back burner the police department tapped the phones of Pro – kannada activists during the Cauvery clashes.In his complaint to the DG&IGP Charan Reddy said that Hilori tapped his conversations and leaked crucial information .
It is alleged that Hilori sought an help of individual outside the police department to translate the phone conversation.it is said that the information was leaked by this third man.
What happened on that day:
On September 8, a day before the Karnataka bandh to protest against the Supreme Court order to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, the West division police had taken Kannada Prakash, an activist of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), into preventive custody along with 12 others on the directions of then DCP West, Ajay Hilori.
The same day, Reddy called the then ACP Kengerigate, Satyanarayana Kudur and Byatarayanapura police inspector Hemanth kumar directed him to release Prakash.The inspector then informed Hilori about Reddy’s directive.
Soon after his release, Prakash went underground. On September 12, violence broke out in Bengaluru, especially in the West division.
The police were listening in to calls of Kannada activists to counter the plans of the protesters.
During this period, they had intercepted a call from Karnataka Rakshana Vedike chief Narayana Gowda to Reddy where he spoke about the protest and preventive detention of Kannada Prakash.
The call between the two was recorded when police had tapped the activist’s phone during the Cauvery riots in the city.
In September 2016, DCP Ajay Hilori had legally intercepted conversations between then Additional Commissioner of Police (West), Bengaluru, K S R Charan Reddy and Kannada activists. He had shared recordings of the phone conversations with lower rank officials and others.Then city police commissioner N S Megharikh had a chalked out a strategy to prevent violence by taking Kannada activists into confidence. On September 7, Megharikh summoned Narayana Gowda and other Kannada activists. He told them to hold protests peacefully and had also warned them of action if they were found indulging in anti-social activities. Narayana Gowda reportedly had asked that members of the Vedike not be taken into preventive custody.
Bengaluru West and Bengaluru North witnessed large-scale violence following which Hilori,T R Suresh, DCP (North), ACP Kengerigate Satyanarayana kudur and Hemanth Kumar bytarayanpura police inspector were transferred for ‘failing’ to handle the situation. Hilori had reportedly ignored instructions from Megharikh and Reddy and did not go to the spot on time.
Charan Reddy had filed a complaint with Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms (DPAR). Director General and Inspector General (DG&IGP) R K Dutta had ordered an internal inquiry asking city police commissioner Praveen Sood to look into it. However there was no progress in the case. On Tuesday, Dutta summoned Sood and sought details. An internal inquiry was initiated by the city police too into the issue.
Praveen Sood Police commissioner told media persons that DG&IGP has ordered an enquiry.The enquiry has begun and once it is over we will submit a report to him.The DG&IGP will take action based on the report he added .
