Hyderabad: Allegations of phone tapping and surveillance linked to the previous BRS govt have resurfaced with multiple instances of alerts from Apple and WhatsApp pointing to state-sponsored spyware use.
Notifications regarding the infamous Israeli spyware Pegasus reportedly targeted political figures, civilian activists and officials since 2019. Interestingly, no serious investigation took place in the case of former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar, now a BRS leader, and human rights activist Balla Ravindranath when their phones were allegedly tapped.
A phone tapping case was recently registered at Panjagutta police station against former minister T Harish Rao and others following a complaint by Hyderabad-based businessman and social activist Gadhagoni Chakradhar Goud. Chakradhar Goud, a real estate entrepreneur and founder of ‘Farmers First Foundation', claimed that he received an alert from Apple on Aug 29, 2023, warning against potential unauthorised access to his iPhone by state-sponsored attackers.
According to Chakradhar Goud, the email from Apple (threatnotification@apple.com) warned him that attackers could access sensitive data, communications and even the device's microphone and camera. He alleged that his wife and associates were also subjected to illegal surveillance.
This is not the first time that such allegations are floating around. In Jan 2023, Praveen Kumar, then with Bahujan Samaj Party, received an Apple alert regarding state-sponsored hacking attempts on his iPhone. Praveen Kumar alleged that these attempts could have been carried out by either BRS at the state level or BJP at the central level.
In Nov 2019, Hyderabad-based civil rights advocate Ravindranath reported being targeted by Pegasus spyware. He alleged that since Oct 7, 2019, he was receiving messages from an unknown international number, purportedly from Canada-based Citizen Labs, about hacking attempts.
The repeated instances of phone surveillance allegations during the previous regime raise questions about the misuse of advanced spyware to target individuals critical of the govt, an expert said.
Pegasus, a tool known to have infected devices of 1,400 civil rights activists, lawyers and journalists worldwide, was linked to these alerts.