BANGALORE: The Opposition BJP on Friday demanded a CBI probe after the Bangalore police were accused of tapping the mobile phones of close relatives and associates of Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.
“It is shocking to know that the mobile phones of five people close to Sadananda Gowda had been tapped,” BJP MLA and spokesperson Suresh Kumar said.
This cannot happen without the knowledge and permission of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as the Intelligence Department is under his control, he said and demanded that the chief minister own responsibility for this. “He has committed a heinous act with clear motives of political vendetta,” Suresh Kumar said.
He said that in 1988, then chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde quit after it was exposed that he had ordered tapping the telephones of many political leaders. Siddaramaiah, who was a minister in Hegde’s ministry, should follow this example, he said.
Mobile phones of Sadananda Gowda’s elder brother D V Bhaskar Gowda, close associates Thamme Gowda, Ashok Pai, Gautam and Murali were tapped between September 5 and 11 in the backdrop of a case related to Sadananda Gowda’s son Karthik Gowda.
According to the Indian Telegraph Act, police can tap the phone of a person for seven days without permission from the Home Secretary if they suspect that the person is acting against national interests. “In this case, it is clear that the tapping was done with ulterior political motives,” he said.
The BJP leaders will bring this to the notice of Telecom Minister Ravishankar Prasad and demand appropriate action. “We will take up the issue strongly, both inside the legislature and outside, to corner Siddaramaiah,” he added.
Suresh Kumar appreciated the impartial stand taken by Home Secretary S K Pattanayak when the police sought his permission to continue the tapping. Rejecting the request, Pattanayak had said, “The point is, just because someone asks for the moon, we cannot give it to them. Suppose you say I want to extract truth and I will beat you to get it, is that permissible? It is not necessary. Tapping is a matter of individual rights and invasion of privacy. If you want to continue snooping, go to Pakistan.”
Suresh Kumar said Siddaramaiah could also have snooped on the other two Union ministers, Ananth Kumar and Siddeshwar, and leaders of the opposition Jagadish Shettar and K S Eshwarappa. What is the guarantee that the police tapped the phones for just seven days? Only a CBI probe can bring out the truth, he said.
Siddu Denies Charge
The chief minister has rejected Suresh Kumar’s demand for his resignation and a CBI probe into the case. “Our government has not indulged in tapping telephones,” he said refuting the BJP charge.