CBI raids former police commissioner of Bengaluru's residence in phone tapping case

Bengaluru: The team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials on Thursday, carried out searches at the residence of Bengaluru’s former police commissioner Alok Kumar in connection with the alleged phone-tapping case.

The investigation team is said to be quizzing the former top cop on his role in the controversial case of intercepting phone calls of politicians, their families and bureaucrats during the 14 months tenure of JD(S) - Congress coalition government. The phone-tapping case came to light when an alleged telephone conversation of the current police commissioner of Bengaluru Bhaskar Rao lobbying for the post, was leaked in August. The names of Congress leader Ahmed Patel, JD(S)’s former minister H D Revanna too had appeared.

H D Vishwanath, one of the disqualified legislators from the JD(S) had openly accused then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy of intercepting the phone calls of politicians and bureaucrats when he was in power. This, he said, was done to gather information as the coalition government was trembling. Alok Kumar who was then the additional commissioner of police of the crime branch, had allegedly carried out the task as per the then CM’s directions. Kumar was eventually promoted as the police commissioner of Bengaluru.


As the phone-tapping controversy came to light, B S Yediyurappa who took charge as the chief minister after the collapse of the coalition government, transferred Kumar to Karnataka State Reserve Police and appointed Bhaskar Rao as the chief of city police. Yediyurappa had also requested the Centre to hand over the case to the CBI.