Phones of top leaders including Kerala CM’s being tapped, alleges Congress MLA

The allegation was made by Congress legislator Anil Akkara from Wadakkanchery.
Phones of top leaders including Kerala CM’s being tapped, alleges Congress MLA
Phones of top leaders including Kerala CM’s being tapped, alleges Congress MLA
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Congress legislator Anil Akkara from Wadakkanchery on Monday came out with the allegation that phones of top political leaders in the state including that of the chief minister are being tapped.

“Phones of as many as 27 leaders are being tapped, including that of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The list of leaders includes those from the CPI (M) as well” Anil said in the Assembly. The police used to tap his telephone during the investigation of the Wadakkanchery gang rape case, Anil said. “I realised it while the police were collecting information from me during the investigation of the case. I didn’t take it seriously as I thought it might help in the probe of a crime that occurred in my constituency. Also I had nothing to hide,” Anil told The News Minute. 

He added “Top leaders of the CPI (M) in Kottayam are aware of this. Those who tapped the calls have done it through the employees affiliated to trade unions of BSNL. Those whose phones were tapped include Left MLAs from Kottayam. They have complained to the chief minister about this. He must be examining it now.” He said that one reason why the telephones of CPI-M leaders were being tapped was because the service provider BSNL had a strong Left union, and with issues in the party surfacing on and off, it kept happening.

Akkara also referred to Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas having gone public with the assertion that his telephone was also being tapped. "No action is being taken against this intrusion and when it comes to private service providers, it's the police who do this directly," Akkara added. He declined to comment further saying that he doesn’t prefer to reveal his source.

Phone tapping instances are not new in Indian politics. Ramakrishna Hegde stepped down as Karnataka CM in 1988 after he was accused of tapping phone calls of the opposition. In 2008, the DMK government in TN had faced a similar accusation. 

(With IANS inputs)

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