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21 Jul, 9 tweets, 4 min read
BREAKING | #PegasusProject

In 2018, the phone numbers of 6 senior officials from Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Pvt. Lt and Monsanto India were selected as possible candidates for surveillance.

thewire.in/government/mon…
In February 2018, the then BJP govt in Maharashtra set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe companies that were allegedly selling or releasing unapproved herbicide-tolerant (HT) transgenic cotton, or Bt cotton, seeds in the state.

thewire.in/government/mon…
In particular, the state had accused several seed companies of surreptitiously releasing the seeds in several cotton-growing districts of Maharashtra, and parts of Gujarat, Telangana and Karnataka.

thewire.in/government/mon…
The resolution forming the SIT specifically mentioned seed giants like Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Pvt. Ltd, Monsanto Holdings Pvt. Ltd. and Monsanto India Ltd.

thewire.in/government/mon…
A few months prior to the formation of the SIT, in October 2017, the PMO had also set up the Field Inspection and Scientific Evaluation Committee (FISEC), under the Department of Biotechnology, to probe the proliferation of unlawful seeds.

thewire.in/government/mon…
It was while these two probes were ongoing that the numbers were selected for possible surveillance.

The numbers include those of employees of Mahyco and Monsanto: senior officials, researchers and scientists working with the two companies.

thewire.in/government/mon…
The senior official, who is no longer associated with Monsanto (as it was acquired by Bayer), said that the news of surveillance has both “amused and scared” them.

thewire.in/government/mon…
The senior official and scientist who was involved with FISEC said, “I am very surprised to learn that I could also have been under surveillance... this seeds business is complicated. Both the government and the companies play a dirty game.”

thewire.in/government/mon…
The report itself, which was submitted to the PMO, gave a clean chit to Mahyco.

However, the complete report is yet to be made public. | @sukanyashantha
and @kabira_tweeting report.
thewire.in/government/mon…

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More from @thewire_in

The Wire Profile picture
23 Jul
BREAKING | #PegasusProject

More than 25 people from the Kashmir Valley were selected as potential targets of intrusive surveillance.

Forensic analysis revealed signs of Pegasus targeting in separatist leader Bilal Lone's phone data.

thewire.in/rights/kashmir…
Others on the leaked database include at least two members of People’s Democratic party (PDP) chief and former chief minister of J&K Mehbooba Mufti’s family.

thewire.in/rights/kashmir…
Their selection as potential targets of surveillance happened when Mufti was still CM and in a coalition with the BJP.

In fact, Mufti’s family members were chosen for potential surveillance just months before the government collapsed.

thewire.in/rights/kashmir…
Read 11 tweets
The Wire Profile picture
22 Jul
BREAKING | #PegausProject

Hours after PM Modi acted to oust Alok Verma from his post as head of the CBI at midnight on October 23, 2018, three telephone numbers registered in his name were added to a list of possible targets for surveillance.

thewire.in/government/peg…
Until his peremptory termination despite having three months of his tenure to go, Verma had enjoyed the authority to order the surveillance of suspects – under norms prescribed by law.

thewire.in/government/peg…
Along with Verma, the personal telephone numbers of his wife, daughter and son-in-law would eventually get placed on the list too, making it a total of 8 numbers from this one family. | @svaradarajan and @AjoyAshirwad report.

thewire.in/government/peg…
Read 11 tweets
The Wire Profile picture
22 Jul
BREAKING | #PegasusProject

Phone numbers that have been used by Anil Ambani and one other official of the Reliance ADA Group were added to the leaked list that was analysed by media partners of the Pegasus Project. | @AnujSrivas

thewire.in/business/pegas…
@AnujSrivas In 2018, two years after largely smooth sailing, the Narendra Modi government’s decision to purchase 36 Rafale aircraft started to come under public scrutiny.

A legal challenge was mounted before the Supreme Court.

thewire.in/rights/pegasus…
@AnujSrivas Media publications, both Indian and French, started asking serious questions about Dassault Aviation’s offset partners in India.

Former French Francois Hollande’s remarks on how one particular corporate partner was chosen stirred up a storm.

thewire.in/rights/pegasus…
Read 10 tweets
The Wire Profile picture
22 Jul
BREAKING | #PegasusProject

The closest circle of advisors around the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and staff members of other Buddhist clerics were selected as targets of potential surveillance over two years. | @DevirupaM and @safimichael

thewire.in/government/dal…
@DevirupaM @safimichael The first records relate to staff of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorji, the third highest ranking monk in Tibetan Buddhism, who had been living outside India since early 2017.

thewire.in/government/dal…
@DevirupaM @safimichael The Karmapa, who fled to India in 2000 as a teenager, has had a testy relationship with the Indian intelligence community.

In March 2018, he obtained a Dominican passport, unbeknownst to India.

thewire.in/government/dal…
Read 9 tweets
The Wire Profile picture
21 Jul
BREAKING | #PegasusProject

Two political personalities from Assam, Samujjal Bhattacharjee of AASU and Anup Chetia of the pro-talks faction of ULFA are in the leaked list of potential spyware targets, along with a Manipuri writer. | @sangbarooahpish

thewire.in/government/peg…
@sangbarooahpish On July 16, 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced the reconstitution of a ‘high level committee’ to implement Clause 6, a salient section of the Assam Accord.

Bhattacharjee's number was added on the list less than a month before this.

thewire.in/government/peg…
@sangbarooahpish The clause is designed to provide ‘constitutional safeguards” to the “Assamese people” and its importance had come to the fore in the wake of the Modi government’s stated desire to amend the Citizenship Act...

thewire.in/government/peg…
Read 10 tweets
The Wire Profile picture
21 Jul
BREAKING | #PegasusProject There is circumstantial evidence to believe the attempt to surveil Gagandeep Kang – today a household name because of her work on the SARS-CoV-2 virus – is linked to the Nipah virus outbreak. | @1amnerd

thewire.in/government/peg…
@1amnerd Around the same time, between April and July 2018, the name of another individual shows up as having been selected for potential surveillance.

This individual, who did not consent to being named...

thewire.in/government/peg…
@1amnerd ...was involved in a collaboration that included the Manipal Centre for Virus Research (MCVR), to monitor the Nipah outbreak.

In February 2020, India’s health ministry alleged that MCVR was storing Nipah virus samples without the proper safeguards.

thewire.in/government/peg…
Read 7 tweets

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