The Hindu : Front Page : Uncover plot in phone tapping: Karat

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Thursday, Jan 05, 2006

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Uncover plot in phone tapping: Karat

K.V. Prasad

Amar Singh to meet Jayalalithaa

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday sought to mobilise political support for its case against the Congress and the Centre in the phone-tapping issue, with its leader Amar Singh calling on Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat here.

Soon after the meeting, Mr. Karat told the media that the issue was "serious'' and demanded an investigation.

"It has been established that through a private telephone company tapping has been done illegally. There should be a proper investigation to uncover the conspiracy behind it.''

He told The Hindu that the party had always opposed tapping of telephone lines of political leaders. This development raised the larger question of "assault on civil liberties.'' The CPI (M) had also cautioned the government against opening up the telecommunications sector to private companies or to foreign capital.

Mr. Amar Singh plans to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu.

PTI, UNI report:

The SP leader apprised Mr. Karat of the tapping operation by a detective agency. He sought the CPI (M)'s support to the SP demand to expose those who were behind the tapping. He said the issue concerned not just any particular party or individual.

Mr. Singh told the media that he `learnt' that the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Research and Analysis Wing,and the Intelligence Bureau had held a meeting, where two persons at the level of CBI Joint Director gave instructions to "fix him once and for all.''

On Tuesday Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh expressed, at a press conference here, his mistrust of the CBI and sought a probe into the phone-tapping case by either the State's Special Task Force or any of the non-Congress Chief Ministers including Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (West Bengal), Ms. Jayalalithaa and Nitish Kumar (Bihar).

Mr. Mulayam Singh defended Mr. Amar Singh's conversations with some film actresses, saying he had the right to privacy. These telephonic conversations were reportedly tapped.

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