(Former BJP Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Congress Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh)
The political war over phone tapping in Himachal Pradesh is hotting up with both the Congress and the BJP trading allegations at each other over a thousand phones that were tapped between 2009 and 2012.
Within hours of his assuming the office of Chief Minister Himachal Pradesh in December last Vir Bhadra Singh ordered Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into phone tapping during BJP government's tenure. A committee had found over 1,000 telephones of politicians, bureaucrats and journalists were tapped during previous Prem Kumar Dhumal-led BJP government in Himachal Pradesh.
Hours after the receiving the probe report last week, Director General of Police I.D. Bhandari who headed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) during the earlier regime was transferred.
The chief minister alleged that the tapping could not have taken place without the knowledge of the then chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who was also the Home minister.
"The BJP felt so insecure that they resorted to tapping of phones at a large scale. We had sent the tapes to the Forensic Labs we have received report with regard to the state government's CID where 760 phones were being tapped, as against this the permission to tap just 35 phones," said chief minister Singh
Mr Bhandari who is now DG Home Guards says that only phone tapping permitted by the Home Secretary was ordered. "As far as I am concerned I haven't done anything wrong... whatever I have done as nodal officer it was all legitimate," he said.
Tapping a phone starts when a request comes to CID or Vigilance department from the investigating officer of a case. Nodal officers from these two departments then send the request to cell phone service providers and also forward the same to the Home Secretary. If the Home Secretary clears the request, the phone can be tapped for maximum of six months and if the request is turned down, phone can't be tapped for more than 7 days.
According to sources, recording conversations of about 35 to 40 people was authorised. But according to information available with NDTV, the 11 computers seized from CID office had recordings of at least 800 phones, while computers of Vigilance department are still being scrutinised and could contained recorded phone conversations of another 700 mobiles.
The government is now banking on these seized computers seized for building a strong case against the earlier BJP government.
The chief minister says the government will issue notices to mobile service providers to reveal who authorised the hundreds of other phones that were tapped.
Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal says he has no information as permission for tapping the phones was given by the home department, and the chief minister's office had nothing to do with it. He wants probe by a sitting High court judge.
Even before the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh was alleging that his phones were being tapped and the first thing he did when he came to power was to order an inquiry into the phone tapping. Now armed with the probe report he says his point is proven and ready to up the attack against the BJP in the upcoming assembly session.