Rashmi Shukla, an IPS officer, appears before Mumbai police in connection with a phone tapping case

Rashmi Shukla, a former Maharashtra intelligence head, appeared before the Colaba police on Wednesday in connection with an inquiry into suspected unlawful phone tapping, an official said.

An FIR was filed against her earlier this month at the Colaba police station in south Mumbai under the Indian Telegraph Act and relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

The case was filed in response to a complaint filed by senior police officer Rajiv Jain, who accused Ms Shukla of spying on Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and NCP politician Eknath Khadse’s phone numbers.

Police previously stated that the suspected unlawful phone tapping occurred when Ms Shukla was the chief of the state intelligence agency (SID).

Ms Shukla arrived at the police station with her lawyer at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Bombay High Court has ordered the Mumbai police not to take any coercive action against her till April 1.

The court also ordered Shukla to appear at the police station between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on March 16 and 23. Previously, the Pune Police had filed an FIR against Shukla in connection with the alleged unlawful tapping of Congress politician Nana Patole’s phones while the state was governed by a BJP-led administration.

The testimony of senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in the matter of alleged unlawful phone tapping and leakage of classified data was recorded by Mumbai police on Sunday.