Congress MPs demand CBI probe into phone tapping

Gandhinagar, July 17 (UNI) Five Congress MPs from Gujarat have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the phone tapping incidents, allegedly at the behest of State Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the backdrop of the Presidential polls.

The five MPs--Viraji Thummar, Harisinh Chavda, Pravin Rashtrapal, A B Kshatriya and Tushar Chaudhary had written to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, demanding immediate CBI probe into the phone tapping incidents.

They said, ''Phone tapping is not only undemocratic and illegal but also violates personal freedom and privacy''. They also pointed out that MLAs from the Chief Minister's party itself complained to state Governor Naval Kishore Sharma on July 13 that in view of presidential polls, the Modi government had stepped up tapping their phones.

The MPs alleged that ''there is a culture of fear and terror by chief minister misusing the official machinery to quash the opposition and this tactic could also be used in Presidential Election and also in subsequent assembly elections in Gujarat.

Four rebel BJP MLAs--Bavku Undhad, Dhirubhai Gajera, Becharbhai Bhadani and Siddharth Parmar had on July 13 complained to the Governor that they had definite information that their phones were being tapped by Mr Modi out of fear. ''He is tapping phones with the help of a software he has obtained for his private use,'' the four MLAs stated in a signed letter to the Governor asking for protection from him against this infringement on privacy.

UNI