Alok Kumar investigation: Why are you asking me? How am I connected, asks HD Kumaraswamy

CBI sleuths on Thursday carried out searches at the residence of former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar in connection with alleged phone tapping of politicians and bureaucrats during the tenure of the Congress-JD(S) government headed by H D Kumaraswamy, officials said.

The agency teams were looking for a pen drive, the alleged electronic evidence that is believed to be having details of purported phone interceptions of over 300 people as alleged by a disgruntled JD(S) MLA, the officials said.

The officials did not reveal if the teams were able to trace the pen drive during the searches. Kumar is currently Additional Director General of the State Reserve Police Force.

The CBI also questioned Kumar as it wants to know if the tapping indeed took place and on whose orders, they said.

Asked by newsmen in Bengaluru for his reaction to the searches, Kumaraswamy said he has no reason to get worried because he has no connection with the matter.

"Let them raid whoever they want to. Why are you asking me? How am I connected to it?" he said. "Everybody does it during their tenure."

To a question that the CBI may question him, the JD(S) leader said "Let them come. As per the law of the land, anyone can be questioned and investigated. Why should I panic?"

"If they investigate how the phone tapping happened in the past, then why should I be worried about it?" he said.

During questioning of suspects after taking over the probe, the CBI had come to know that a copy of interceptions was downloaded from the main server of the police and was allegedly handed over to a senior officer of the Bangalore police in a pen drive, officials said.

The agency suspects that the senior officer is Alok Kumar, a 1990-batch Karnataka cadre IPS officer, they said.

The pen drive is believed to be carrying details of conversations of politicians, police officers, bureaucrats and private persons, they added.

The Karnataka government headed by B S Yediyurappa had announced a CBI probe after disqualified JD(S) MLA A H Vishwanath, who served as the party's state president and turned rebel, accused the Kumaraswamy dispensation of tapping phones and spying on more than 300 people, including him.

The BJP government in the state ordered the probe on August 19.

"It has come to the notice of the government that there are apprehensions that phones of several ruling and opposition political leaders, their relatives, and other government officials have been intercepted in an illegal unauthorised unwarranted manner," said the letter entrusting the probe to the CBI.

Because of this illegal activity in the state it is apprehended that crucial and personal information of many senior political leaders and government servants might have been leaked which is likely to infringe upon their privacy, the government alleged.

The government asked the agency to inquire into all such interceptions of "telephones of political leaders belonging to the ruling party and opposition parties as well as their associates, relatives and also of the government servants from August 01, 2018 till August 19, 2019".

It urged the agency to identify and investigate those involved in the interception.

After getting a nod from the Centre on August 30, the CBI had converted the letter into an FIR against unidentified public servants and private persons on the same day.

The agency registered the FIR under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.

Several leaders of Congress including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge and home minister in the alliance government M B Patil, had sought a probe while another key party leader and former minister D K Shivakumar rejected the snooping charges.

According to reports, phones of those close to Siddaramaiah, who was the coalition coordination committee chief then, too had come under the watch.

Several BJP leaders, including former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, have directly accused Kumaraswamy of being behind the episode to save his government which was then rocked by dissidence.