He's Been Reading, Everything On Your Phone: Rahul Gandhi On Pegasus Snooping Row

The government has junked away media reports which claimed that phone numbers of Indian journalists appeared in a list which are believed to be possible candidates for surveillance using 'Pegasus'.

Rahul Gandhi (FILE PIC/AFP)

New Delhi:  The reports of Pegasus hacking software snooping on journalists once again gave the opportunity to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to launch a veiled attack against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his latest tweet, Rahul Gandhi wrote: "We know what he's been reading-everything on your phone! #Pegasus."

He went on to tag his July 16 tweet saying: "I'm wondering what you guys are reading these days."

Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the government is "tapping jeevi" and has not spared even the RSS leadership and this is "detective sarkar".

The snooping database has revealed names of 40 journalists, three major opposition figures, one constitutional authority, two serving ministers in the Narendra Modi government, current and former heads and officials of security organisations and scores of business persons, as per The Wire report on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the government has junked away media reports which claimed that phone numbers of more than 40 Indian journalists appeared in a list which are believed to be possible candidates for surveillance using Israel-made spyware 'Pegasus'.

In an official statement issued on Sunday, the central government said that the news report appears to be a “fishing expedition, based on conjectures and exaggerations to malign the Indian democracy and its institutions.”

"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 of India and Pegasus," the official statement read.