The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress on Thursday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the alleged snooping on phones of party leader Rahul Gandhi and others with Israeli spyware Pegasus.
An international media consortium reported on Sunday that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders, and one sitting judge besides scores of business persons and activists in India, could have been targeted for hacking through the spyware.
Rahul Gandhi, BJP minister Prahlad Singh Patel, as well as former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were among those whose numbers were listed as potential targets for hacking, the consortium reported.
The government and the ruling BJP have dismissed the Pegasus Project reports as "concocted and evidence-less".
A number of senior leaders and activists of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress held a protest and took out a march towards the Raj Bhawan seeking a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the alleged snooping issue and demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Jammu and Kashmir Congress' chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said the party is fighting to protect the Constitution and the right to privacy of every citizen.
Mr Sharma claimed that the "BJP is indulging in illegal and unconstitutional actions as it is afraid of Rahul Gandhi". He said that national security is involved in this issue.
Former minister and J&K Congress vice-president Raman Bhalla also broached the issue of the recent amendment to the domicile law.
"Step by step, the BJP government is allowing outside residents to grab resources, jobs and lands of the locals of Jammu and Kashmir which is unjustified," he said.
