Shekhawat questions authenticity of tapes as Rajasthan cops seek voice sample

NEW DELHI: Following the Rajasthan police’s notice to record his voice sample, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday questioned the authenticity of the audio tapes, cited by Congress to allege his involvement in a bid to topple the Gehlot government. He asked the state government to first make its stand clear on the phone-tapping as to how it acted without verifying its source, intent and legality.
“The SOG notice was received on my PS’s phone in which I have been asked for a statement and voice sample. But before that the Gehlot government should explain the authenticity of the tapes. Who has done the recording and with what intent. Besides, we demand a forensic investigation of the phone-tapping incident,” Shekhawat told TOI.
He said there is plenty for Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot to explain about the authenticity and legality of the phone-tapping incident.
While the minister is firmly against giving his voice sample until “the legality of the phone-tapping incident” is confirmed, he is also waiting for the state government to respond to the MHA notice seeking details of the incident. The MHA reacted after Rajasthan home secretary Rohit Kumar Singh clarified that the state government had not given any permission for phone-tapping.
The Rajasthan special operation group (SOG) team is in the capital, looking for rebel Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma to record the statement and take his voice samples. The SOG had registered two FIRs after two audio tapes surfaced in which a Congress lawmaker was purportedly talking to a middleman and a person named Gajendra Singh about toppling the Gehlot government.
BJP has already demanded a CBI probe into phone-tapping, saying it will make the whole incident crystal clear.