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Pegasus Project: Numbers of BSF, Army & RAW Officials Feature in Leaked Database

A new report published by The Wire on Monday, 26 July, shows that two officials belonging to the Border Security Force (BSF), a former senior official from the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), as well as at least two officers of the Indian Army were potential targets for surveillance using Israeli spyware Pegasus.

Reports published by news organisations across the world on 18 July revealed that Israel-made spyware Pegasus was believed to have been used to snoop on at least 300 Indian phone numbers, including those of several journalists, politicians, government officials, and rights activists.

According to the fresh report by The Wire, the numbers of KK Sharma, who headed the BSF in 2018, BSF Inspector General of Police Jagdish Maithani, retired senior RAW official Jitendra Kumar Ojha, as well as his wife featured in the leaked database.

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Also Read: 'Death of Freedom': Sanjay Raut Likens Pegasus Snoopgate with Hiroshima Bombing

Also found on the list are the numbers of two Indian Army officers who took on the government over some matters.

However, the presence of the numbers in the 'Pegasus Project' does not confirm that the device was actually 'infected with Pegasus or subject to an attempted hack,' the report said.

The Wire said that it was unable to forensically test any of the phones associated with the people named in the story, and noted that only an examination of the phones would reveal whether they were actual targets or not.

The Pegasus Snoopgate

The report comes as part of a series that has revealed the possibility of snooping operations against several 'potential' targets, including high-profile journalists, political leaders, and ministers.

Multiple reports, published since 18 July, have revealed the names of Rahul Gandhi, Prashant Kishor, Ashok Lavasa, and Union ministers Prahlad Patel and Ashwini Vaishnaw, among those on the leaked list.

The alleged snooping attempts were reportedly carried out using Pegasus, a product of Israeli cyberweapons company NSO Group.

The Indian government, on its part, has denied any role in the snooping operations, slamming the reports.

(With inputs from The Wire.)

(This is a developing story. It will be updated with more details.)

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