New Delhi:
The BJP has rejected the government's explanation of how and why a Delhi constable and a group of private detectives tried to access the cell-phone records of Arun Jaitley, one of the party's most senior leaders.
"Is there anything for the government to hide? There is something fishy," said the BJP's Venkaiah Naidu in Parliament, accusing the government of not being able to uncover who hired the policeman and three detectives, now under arrest, to spy on Mr Jaitley.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde recapped how the men had been arrested, and said, "This case is an attempt of the unauthorised to access call data record...it's not a case of telephone tapping."
When the constable and three detectives were arrested earlier this month, the police admitted in court that there were signs of "a larger conspiracy" to get mobile records for at least 12 politicians.
This morning, the BJP denied that a faction within the party had hired the gang to spy on Mr Jaitley. "The BJP will be interested in knowing if state actors were involved," said Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the main opposition party.