COIMBATORE: Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of CPI (M), has charged city police with tapping the phones of some of its functionaries. Commissioner of Police V Balakrishnan has ordered an inquiry about the allegation.
State president of the outfit S Karthick, who is based in Madurai, posted a tweet alleging that he was questioned by a woman police personnel from Ukkadam station about a protest the ourt fit staged a month ago. He claimed that police got his contact details by tapping the mobile of the functionary in Coimbatore.
“On Wednesday night, a woman police personnel contacted me over the phone seeking my personal details. The woman told me she was collecting information about those who participated in a protest staged by us in front of the office of the Chief Educational Officer in Coimbatore, condemning RSS for conducting a programme inside a school,” Karthick told TNIE.
“When I asked her how she got my contact number, the woman said she was tracking the phone of our district secretary Arjun, who also took part in the demonstration. Further, she said they had the power to tap and extract data from anybody’s phone. Coimbatore police contacted several people who were in contact with Arjun during the protest,” Karthick added.
He slammed police for intruding their privacy and said it was a violation of right to personal liberty which is provided by the Constitution.
Commissioner of Police V Balakrishnan, however, played down the incident. “An argument may have arisen between the two in which the officer may have said so. But, local police have no power to tap phone conversations. State-level intelligence will do it when required, that too with the permission of the service provider. I ordered an inquiry,” he said.