Babul Supriyo says 'spying with Pegasus prevalent in WB since 3 yrs'; pins blame on Mamata

Turning tables on Trinamool Congress' supremo Mamata Banerjee, BJP leader Babul Supriyo on Wednesday asserted that snooping with the help of the Pegasus software has been a common practice in West Bengal for the past three years. The singer-turned-politician, speaking to the media, alleged that Didi's trusted aide- an IPS rank officer had personally visited Israel to buy equipment worth Rs 38 lakh for the functioning of the Israeli-based software. Alleging that it was all to tap the phones of the leaders, and prominent personalities in the state, he added that to avert it, he and many others moved to apps like Telegram and Signal. 

The statement of Babul Supriyo comes after Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday targeted the government and underlined that she was furious with PM Modi over the Pegasus issue. "Pegasus has put everyone's life in danger," she said, once again demanding the PM Modi-led government to summon a meeting with the Opposition, and address the matter. 

Pegasus row

A report by 16 media houses claimed that 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers were allegedly spied upon using Israeli surveillance technology firm Pegasus - which only has 36 vetted governments as its clients. As per a 'leaked' database, numbers of those allegedly spied upon include over 40 journalists, three major opposition figures, one constitutional authority, two serving cabinet ministers, current and former heads, and officials of security organisations and businessmen. The target also includes the eight activists currently accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case. The report claimed that the leaked numbers mainly belong to 10 countries - India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Immediately, the Centre issued a rebuttal rubbishing the report stating it claimed that the questionnaire sent to it was 'founded on pre-conceived notions' and that it was a fishing expedition. Similarly, 'Pegasus' owner NSO Group highlighted - 'the purpose of the list could not be conclusively determined' and the list does not 'identify who puts the numbers on it or why', refuting all allegations. Amnesty International - which conducted the investigation - stated that  50,000 numbers were snooped upon, but was unable to verify if by Pegasus. Two pleas have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an SC-monitored probe into the allegations, while some Opposition leaders have demanded a Joint Parliamentary probe into it.