Mamata Bannerjee: turned down Pegasus software offer, 'not acceptable' to use for political reasons

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday stated that nearly 5 years ago, NSO, the Israeli tech firm, had approached her to sell its Pegasus software.

'They came to our police department to sell their machines. They demanded ₹ 25 crore for it, five years back. It came to me, I said no we don't want to buy such machines,' Mamata Banerjee said.

According to Banerjee, if the software were to be used for anti-national and security purposes, it was fine. 'But it is used for political reasons, it's used against officials and judges, which is not acceptable,' she added.

Her Pegasus claims come days after a BJP leader, Anirban Ganguly, alleged that Mamata Banerjee had been using the spyware since she came to power in 2016.

The chief minister has repeatedly targeted BJP-led Central government for allegedly using the Israeli spyware to target phones of journalists, politicians, activists, businessmen, and others. She has been demanding an all-party meeting over the issue.

A global consortium of media groups had revealed in July 2021 that the spyware, sold only to governments, had been used around the world to snoop on opponents, journalists, businessmen etc.

Phones of opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Supreme Court judges, ministers, and journalists were among the potential targets.

The Supreme Court is hearing a dozen petitions that allege the use of the spyware for surveillance.

The government has strongly denied allegations that it bought Pegasus software for snooping.

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