Phone-tapping accused T’gana ASP remanded in DA case

ASpecial margaret court for Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cases in Hyderabad on th remanded suspended additional super of constabulary ( asp viper) Nayini Bhujanga Rao to 14-day judicial custody, after the Telangana ACB arrested him in a disproportionate assets case late on Wednesday, a senior police officer said.Bhujanga Rao is an accused number 3 (A-3) in the sensational phone-tapping case that allegedly happened during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime.ACB conducted day-long searches on Wednesdayat as many as 16 locations belonging to Bhujanga Rao in connection with a disproportionate assets case before taking him into custody. “After the mandatory medical examination, he was before the ACB court on Thursday morning and remanded to judicial custody. He was later sent to Chanchalguda jail,” ACB deputy superintendent of police G Sridhar said.The raids were carried out at his residence in Sairam Towers, Hafeezpet, under Miyapur in Hyderabad. Simultaneous searches were also carried out at another house owned by him in Prashanth Nagar, Vanasthalipuram, as well as at the residences of his relatives and alleged benami transactions across Nalgonda, Suryapet and Sangareddy districts.According to Sridhar, during the searches, the ACB officials found documents relating to 27.29 acres of agricultural land in Suryapet and Nalgonda districts, five open plots, two houses and one commercial building in Hyderabad.They also found about ₹3.83 lakh in cash, bank balances amounting to ₹8 lakh and gold ornaments weighing around one kg at Bhujanga Rao’s residence.In addition, officials detected one Maruti Swift car and one KIA Seltos car. The total value of the assets identified was estimated at ₹5.92 crore. However, officials said the market value could be several times higher than their document value.“It was found that all the assets had been acquired before Bhujanga Rao was suspended from service,” the ACB official said.Bhujanga Rao was suspended nearly two years ago after being arrested by Panjagutta police in the phone-tapping case in March 2024. He was booked under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 427 (mischief), 201 (disappearance of evidence) and 120-B read with 34 (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, besides Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (PDPP Act), and Sections 65, 66 and 70 of the Information Technology Act.He spent nearly nine months in prison before being granted bail by the high court and was released on January 30, 2025.