Bengaluru: Days after the BS Yediyurappa-led Karnataka government handed over the phone tapping case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) national general secretary Ramesh Babu wrote to the chief minister calling for a probe by a special investigation team (SIT). He said the CBI itself has been levelled of similar allegations over the years.
"The main accused in several phone tapping cases is the CBI itself. It has been tapping phones of several individuals across the country. How can the chief minister then hand over a phone tapping case to the CBI? All cases from January 2008 till date must be investigated by an SIT,” he said.
He has also filed a police complaint alleging that his phone may have been tapped too. “On August 23, I received a call from someone who claimed to be a reporter with a television channel. The person asked for my reaction to former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s statements against HD Deve Gowda. I said Deve Gowda himself would react to this and that I have not been asked by the party to give any reaction on this. But the person asked for the party’s reaction to this and insisted that I respond. I got suspicious and asked him to come and meet me, but he cut the call,” Babu said in his complaint to the Upparpet police in Bengaluru on August 26.
According to his complaint, Babu checked with the television channel concerned to find out if the number from which he received the call belonged to any of their employees. However, the company replied in the negative.
On August 19, Yediyurappa handed over the phone tapping case to the CBI after a political storm kicked up after several leaders alleged their phones were tapped during the previous HD Kumaraswamy-led government. Disqualified MLAs who had rebelled against the previous Congress-JDS coalition government had also levelled similar allegations.
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