Pegasus: Top ED officer, Kejriwal's aide, PMO in potential targets list

Rajeshwar Singh a senior Enforcement Directorate officer who led several highprofile investigations conducted by his agency was selected as a probable target for surveillance by an Indian client of the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group an investigation of leaked data by The Wire and its media partners on the Pegasus Project has revealedThe database accessed by French nonprofit Forbidden Stories and shared with the projects media consortium included not only two of Singhs numbers but four numbers belonging to three women from his family implying they too were likely targetsVK Jain a former Indian Administrative Service officer who worked as a personal assistant to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also appears to have marked as a person of interest In addition the leaked records contain details of the numbers of at least one official each from the PMO and NITI Aayog The Wire saidAlso Read If France Israel can order probe into Pegasus snooping why not India asks P ChidambaramSingh a provincial police service officer PPS from Uttar Pradesh has been with the ED since 2009 during which he had served on the investigation of several sensitive cases such as the 2G spectrum scam and the AircelMaxis matter He has also been involved in the probes into the Sahara group and the disproportionate assets case of Andhra chief minister Jagan Mohan ReddyHis run in the database stretches from late 2017 to mid2019 which is around the time when the leaked data itself tapers off His second number appears to have been of interest from the spring of 2018 onward This is also when two numbers registered to his wife are added as are the numbers of his two sisters one of whom Abha Singh is an Indian Administrative Service officerturnedlawyer based in MumbaiThe Pegasus Project list also includes the phone number used by VK Jain who was appointed as chief consultant at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals officeJains phone number appears in the leaked records in 2018 when according to sources in the Delhi government he handled the most significant files of the state government As Kejriwals primary aide during his first full term Jain is closely tied to implementation of the chief ministers most prized welfare programmes like improving school education and health infrastructure in the citystateSignificantly his phone number appears in the records soon after he was questioned by the Delhi Police in connection with the alleged assault on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash by two Aam Aadmi Party legislators in February 2018 The incident occurred during a meeting between AAP leaders and Prakash over the issue of Door Step Delivery of Ration and the slow processing of files While Prakash registered an FIR over the alleged assault the AAP legislators denied the charge The Wire saidThe leaked records indicate that the telephone number of a senior employee of the NITI Aayog the Union governments policy thinktank was also included as a probable target for surveillance The Wire verified the number and spoke to the person involved but is withholding their identity at their request as they are no longer working at the government bodyAn officer who is currently an undersecretary in the Prime Ministers Office was also selected for potential surveillance in 2017 the leaked records show He was in charge of Prime Minister Modis tours in 2017 when the Indian client of the NSO Group showed interest in him The Wire saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever