Pegasus row: Spyware being used by Centre to crush dissent, says Thirumurugan Gandhi

COIMBATORE: May 17 Movement leader Thirumurugan Gandhi accused the Central government of spying on journalists and opposition leaders using Pegasus spyware.

Addressing the media on Monday, he said the Centre violated the Supreme Court order on the right to privacy and urged the judiciary to intervene in the issue. “The spyware Pegasus, which is developed by an Israel-based company, is sold only to governments and not individual firms or persons.

The Central government has used the software to spy on political leaders, judges, social activists and journalists. In Parliament, the government said the spyware was not used illegally. But it did not deny using the spyware. Using spyware, the government wants to crush voices of dissent,” he said. 

Thirumurugan’s number is on the leaked Pegasus database. However, it is not known if his phone was hacked.