Phones of MPs & MLAs not tapped: Rajasthan Police

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Police on Friday evening issued a statement saying it was not tapping the phones of parliamentarians or legislators in the state. The police said a social media post which claimed that phones of legislators staying at Suryagarh Hotel in Jaisalmer were being tapped, was baseless, bogus and misleading.
The post, purportedly released in support of the rebel Congress legislators led by Sachin Pilot, had gone viral on the social media on Friday morning.The message was being circulated with a list of phone numbers, claiming that the phones of at least half-a-dozen MLAs in the hotel were being tapped. Legislators from the ruling Congress as well as the independents supporting chief minister Ashok Gehlot were staying in two hotels, including Suryagarh in Jaisalmer since July 31.
“None of the units of Rajasthan Police tapped the phones of parliamentarians or legislators in the past, nor were they doing so currently. The charge (on social media) of recording conversations taking place on (hotel) intercom is also bogus and imaginary,” read the statement released by the joint director, police headquarters, Jaipur.
“The Rajasthan Police always acts to prevent criminal activities and illegal tapping is a criminal act,” the statement said.
The BJP had earlier accused the Gehlot government of illegally tapping phones after the Congress cited some audio clips on social media allegedly exposing the conspiracy to topple the elected government in Rajasthan.
AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, who reached Jaisalmer on Friday, said the phone-tapping charge was baseless.