Spyware used to snoop on ministers, oppn leaders, journalists and bizmen: Report

Thursday 22nd July 2021 04:09 EDT
 
 

Spyware Pegasus, which is sold by the NSO Group of Israel, may have been used to conduct surveillance on about 300 Indians, including two serving Cabinet ministers at the Centre, three opposition leaders, a Constitutional authority, government officials, scientists and about 40 journalists, according to French media nonprofit, Forbidden Stories, and Amnesty International.

The list also included activists, businessmen and those from the legal fraternity. A number registered in the name of a sitting Supreme Court judge was also on the database, although it was unclear if the judge was still using it for Whatsapp and other messaging services, The Wire, a web portal which was part of the global media project involving16 other outlets, said. The leaked database of around 50,000 phone numbers globally has the names of several Indian journalists.

The leaked database was accessed by Paris-based media nonprofit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International and shared with The Guardian, The Washington Post, Le Monde, The Wire, among others, as part of a collaborative investigation called the ‘Pegasus Project’. India was among the 10 countries where the numbers were concentrated with Mexico topping the list with 15,000 numbers. A large share of the numbers was also from West Asian countries such as UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with Pakistan, France and Hungary being the other prominent countries on the list.

This is the second time that Pegasus has been linked to phone surveillance. In 2019, some WhatsApp users in India, including journalists and activists, were informed that their phones had been compromised. This time, among those named, by their own acknowledgment, are The Wire’s Siddharth Vardharajan and Rohini Singh, The Hindu’s Vijaita Singh and independent journalists Prem Shankar Jha and Swati Chaturvedi.

Names also include that of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, two ministers in the Narendra Modi Council of Ministers, and political strategist Prashant Kishor surfaced on Monday. The list includes: Rahul Gandhi, former Congress president, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, IT and Communications and his wife, Prahlad Singh Patel, Union MoS Jal Shakti. (List also includes his wife, 15 of his close associates including private secretaries, political and office associates, his cook and gardener), Prashant Kishor, election strategist, Ashok Lavasa, former election commissioner, Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress MP and national general secretary of the party, Gagandeep Kang, top scientist and virologist, Hari Menon, India head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Jagdeep Chokhar, head of Association of Democratic Reforms, Alankar Sawai, close aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Rao, member of Congress Working Committee, Pradeep Awasthi, personal secretary to former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje (when she was the CM),
Sanjay Kachru, Union minister Smriti Irani’s OSD during 2014-15, Pravin Togadia, former international working president of VHP.

Govt dismisses allegation

The government dismissed allegations of tapping phones of prominent individuals including ministers, opposition leaders, journalists, businessmen and others. "The allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people has no concrete basis or truth associated with its whatsoever, an official statement released by the government said.

It said that the questionnaire sent to the Government of India indicates that the story being created is "not only bereft of facts" but also "founded in pre-conceived conclusions". "It seems you are trying to play the role of an investigator, prosecutor as well as jury," the government said in its response.

Government of India's response to a Right to Information application about the use of Pegasus has been prominently reported by media and is in itself sufficient to counter any malicious claims about the alleged association between the government and Pegasus," it further said.

The government said that similar claims were made in the past regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp by India. Those reports, it said, had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties, including WhatsApp in the Supreme Court.


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