WEB DESK
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, BJP ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Prahlad Singh Patel, as well as also former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were among those whose phone numbers were listed as potential “targets” for hacking through an Israeli spyware sold only to the government agencies, an international media consortium reported on Monday.
The Wire news portal, in the second part of its revelations from the international collaborative investigation called the Pegasus Project, reported that the phone number of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and 11 phone numbers belonging to the Supreme Court staffer and her close relatives, who accused former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment in April 2019, were selected as targets for surveillance.
Government refutes all charges of Pegasus snooping as ‘baseless’
At least two mobile phone numbers used by Rahul Gandhi feature in the list of potential targets by an official Indian client of the Israeli surveillance technology vendor, NSO Group.
Reports claim that the phone numbers of five of Rahul Gandhi’s friends and acquaintances were also placed on the list of potential targets. Reports also claim that none of the five plays any role in politics or public affairs.
Responding to the reports, Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV said Rahul Gandhi was the potential Pegasus target in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Among others whose phone numbers feature on the list of potential targets are Prashant Kishor and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee. Prashant Kishor and Abhishek Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, were instrumental in the Trinamool Congress party’s victory in the recently held assembly polls in the state.
Their close aides’ mobile phones were also reportedly hacked using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The reports claim digital forensic analysis conducted by the Amnesty International pointed to this technological security breach.
However, the same report also said it was not yet confirmed whether their mobile phone accounts were actually compromised as their phones were not immediately available for forensic examination.
Among others, reportedly on the list of potential targets, were the personal secretary to senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje Scindia, when she was the Rajasthan chief minister, and Sanjay Kachroo, who worked as an OSD for Smriti Irani in her first term as the Union minister in the Narendra Modi government from 2014-2015.
Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s number that he used in 2019 also featured on the potential target list. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia’s number also figures in the database, reports claim.
Reports say these numbers featured on the list of potential targets for surveillance during 2017-2019 by a client of the NSO Group.
These are among 300 verified Indian numbers that were reportedly targets of Pegasus.
While the Congress demanded the sacking of Home Minister Amit Shah and a probe into the “role” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the matter, the BJP hit out at the Opposition party over its attack and claimed that there is not a “shred of evidence” to link either the ruling party or the Modi dispensation with the matter.
Reacting sharply to the report, Shah said, “disruptors and obstructers will not be able to derail India’s development trajectory through their conspiracies” and asserted that it the report has been “amplified by few with only one aim – to humiliate India at world stage.”