india

Updated: Sep 26, 2019 18:07 IST

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday raided the official residence of former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar in connection with the alleged tapping of phones of politicians and bureaucrats during the term of former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy who sought to distance himself from the scandal.

The search went on for nine hours but the CBI refused to divulge details of any seizures.

They reportedly looked for some pen drive and computers, according to PTI.

The phone tapping case came to light after a purported telephone conversation of the current Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao was leaked to a TV channel. Rao had launched an investigation into the incident and this had snowballed after several politicians complained of similar instances during the tenure of the former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy-led Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government.

The matter was already simmering after an alleged audio clip of disqualified former MLA AH Vishwanath was released ahead of the collapse of the coalition government. Vishwanath had alleged that the phones of many leaders across all party lines had been tapped under the direction of previous chief minister Kumaraswamy. The claim fuelled a major controversy.

The Bharatiya Janata Party government led by chief minister BS Yediyurappa that replaced the Congress-JD(S) coalition handed over the probe to the CBI last month as the matter appeared to involved political leaders as well.

The BJP government had unceremoniously removed Kumar as Bengaluru’s top cop and replaced him with Rao. Kumar who was appointed during Kumaraswamy’s tenure and was the Commissioner for less than two months, was shunted out as Additional Director General of Police, Karnataka State Reserve Police.

Many of the coalition’s leaders, too, had sought a probe into alleged phone tapping, much to the irritation of Kumaraswamy. Former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who has constantly sparred with his Kumaraswamy, had also called for an investigation into the matter.

Responding to the searches, Kumaraswamy washed his hands off the scandal said that he was not worried. “Let anybody’s house be raided, why should I bother? I have no connection with this,” he said.

When asked if he was next in line for investigation, he retorted that the law enforcement agencies had all the rights. “Anybody can be investigated under the laws of this country, why I should be worried,” he said.