“Asked for Rs 25 crore .. I flatly refused ..” Mamta’s main comment about Pegasus | Mamata Banerjee says TMC govt turned down NSO’s offer to sell Pegasus spyware

India

oi-Vigneshkumar

Updated: Thursday, March 17, 2022, 20:51 [IST]

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has revealed some important information about the Pegasus affair, which sparked a huge controversy a few months back.

Pegasus is spyware software developed by the NSO, which operates under the Department of Defense of Israel. This allows you to track a person’s cell phone as a whole.

Israel is said to be selling the software to government agencies in various countries. Israel continues to claim that the software is used only to detect terrorists.

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Pegasus

In this case, the last few months before the Pegasus affair came out and sparked a huge controversy. In the past few months, it has been reported that the mobile phones of more than 300 people in India, including journalists, Union ministers, opposition leaders and judges, have been monitored by Pegasus. The affair caused a great deal of controversy at the time.

Mamta Banerjee

In this context, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has given some important information about this. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “They came to our police to sell the software (Pegasus spyware). Five years ago, they asked us for Rs 25 crore. Then the matter came to me. I immediately stated that we did not want to buy such software. He said.

I refused

Mamata Banerjee’s comment is seen as important as the Supreme Court is hearing a case alleging that the government was monitoring the nut population using Pegasus software, an Israeli spyware. Mamata added, “If it had been used to prevent anti-national activities and to protect the country, it would have been a different matter. But there it is being used for political reasons. It is being used against officials and judges, which is unacceptable.”

Pegasus in India

Last year, it was reported that the government had tracked the mobiles of more than 300 Indians with Pegasus software. The mobiles of Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, election adviser Prashant Kishore and Union ministers (Aswini Vaishnav and Prahlad Patel) were said to have been monitored. However, the central government had explained last July that no unauthorized surveillance had been carried out in India.

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English summary

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her government rejected an offer to purchase the NSO Group’s Pegasus software: Pegasus software surveillance in India.