Express News Service By

HYDERABAD: The revelation that telephone lines at the Raj Bhavan, official residence of the Governor, have been misused and calls made to Oman and Sri Lanka has come as a shocker to the city police.

Governor ESL Narasimhan, on his recent visit to the Hyderabad Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy’s office, is understood to have directed the latter to look into the issue. The CID has now booked cases against unknown persons and begun investigation. The sleuths have not ruled out the role of insiders and are likely to question some Raj Bhavan staffers soon. Some miscreants had made calls to Oman and Sri Lanka by using the IP addresses of the Raj Bhavan’s Electronic Private Automatic Branch Exchanges. It came to light when Raj Bhavan officials received telephone bills running into lakhs.

However, a release from the Raj Bhavan said only Rs 38,233 was billed extra due to the misuse. The officials immediately took the issue to the notice of the Governor.

Vendor to cough up extra bill

Gateway Business Solutions, vendor of Matrix EPABX Systems, is installing an exchange at Raj Bhavan. The Rs 38,233, billed extra due to the misuse, will be recovered from it.