Snoopgate went on even outside Gujarat: Website

NEW DELHI: Investigative portal Gulail, which last month published an expose on what it said was illegal surveillance of a woman by the Gujarat police in 2009 allegedly at the behest of Narendra Modi, has said the snooping was not just limited to Gujarat and the then BJP government in Karnataka had also been approached for permission to tap her phones.

The portal on Tuesday released 40 new tapes, which it said offered proof the snooping was not just limited to Gujarat, and called for a central investigation into the allegations rather than a state-level enquiry commission set up by the Gujarat government.

Gulail’s head Ashish Khetan said the new tapes, which are not with the central investigation agency and do not form part of the original tranche of 267 tapes that were turned over by suspended police officer G L Singhal over to the CBI, showed that the Karnataka government had been approached in August–September of 2009 to authorise tapping of the woman’s phone.

“The Karnataka government turned down the request since it had been sent by an official of the rank of under secretary and it required a written request from a home secretary rank officer. The tapes also show that after this, the Gujarat government dropped the idea,” said Khetan.