TMC govt turned down NSO's offer to sell Pegasus spyware, says Mamata Banerjee
India Today
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that her government had turned down an offer to purchase Pegasus software, a spyware that is at the centre of a snooping row in India.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her government had received an offer to purchase the NSO Group's Pegasus software a few years ago, but she had turned down the offer.
The West Bengal chief minister said, “They came to our police department to sell their software (Pegasus spyware). They demanded 25 crores for it, five years back. It came to me, and I said no, we don't want to buy such softwares.”
Mamata Banerjee’s disclosure comes even as the Supreme Court is looking at a batch of pleas alleging that Israeli spyware Pegasus was used for surveillance of certain people in India.
Mamata Banerjee said, “If it was for anti-national activities and for security, it could have been a different thing. But it's being used for political reasons. Its being used on officials and judges, which is not acceptable.”
WHAT IS ROW OVER PEGASUS?
Last year, an international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.
ALSO READ: Israel to form commission to probe into claims of police hacking phones using Pegasus spyware
