Was offered controversial Pegasus spyware for just Rs 25 crore, I rejected it: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata/Amaravati, Mar 17: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that the cyber-security company which developed Pegasus had approached the state police at least four to five years back with an offer to sell the controversial Israeli spyware for just Rs 25 crore but she had turned down the offer when she came to know of it.
Banerjee also alleged that instead of using the spyware for the security of the country, it was used by the central government which she claimed purchased it, for "political" reasons against Judges and officials. However, the Telugu Desam party refuted assertions made by her on Wednesday that the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu had purchased the spyware during his tenure.
"They
(NSO,
the
company
which
developed
Pegasus)
had
approached
everybody
to
sell
their
ware.
They
had
approached
our
police
too
four-five
years
ago
and
offered
to
sell
it
for
Rs
25
crore.
I
had
the
information,
but
I
said
that
we
did
not
require
it,"
Banerjee
said
at
the
state
secretariat.
"If
it
was
used
for
the
benefit
of
the
country
or
for
security
reasons
then
it
was
a
different
matter
altogether,
but
it
has
been
used
for
political
purposes,
against
judges,
officers
which
is
not
at
all
welcomed,"
she
alleged.
The Bengal CM had on Wednesday had disclosed in the Assembly that her government was offered Pegasus spyware which she had declined as it had the potential to encroach upon people's privacy. During her disclosure in the Assembly, the fiery leader had also claimed that the Andhra government "had it during Chandrababu (Naidu's) time".
However, the Telegu Desam party refuted the claim and said the Chandrababu Naidu government had made no such purchase. "We have never purchased any Spyware. We never indulged in any illegal phone tapping," Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh said here on Thursday.
Reacting to Banerjee's claim that the previous Chandrababu Naidu government purchased the Pegasus Spyware, Lokesh who was the then Minister for Information Technology in his father Chandrababu's Cabinet, said "I don't know whether she has indeed said that, and where and in which context. If she did say that, she is certainly misinformed."
However, he said the software was offered to the state government. "Yes, Pegasus offered to sell its Spyware to the AP government as well but we rejected it," Lokesh said.
Had the government purchased the Spyware, there would be a record of it, he pointed out. An international media consortium had reported last year that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a batch of pleas on the allegations of misuse of this spyware in India. PTI