New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday said that the Intelligence Bureau probed a possible security breach in his office but found ‘nothing’ but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) described the incident as a ‘serious security breach’.
‘Intelligence Bureau investigated. Looked into it and there was nothing,’ Mukherjee told reporters here, reacting on a report in The Indian Express that said he had feared serious security breach in his office.
According to the report, Mukherjee in September last year urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to order a quiet probe into what he reportedly felt was a ‘serious breach of security’ in his office.
Reportedly, the Intelligence Bureau found some adhesive, a sort of chewing gum, planted at 16 locations at the North Block office of the finance minister including rooms of two aides.
‘In respect of the news item regarding bugging in my office, I believe the investigative agency found nothing,’ Mukherjee said.
Meanwhile, the BJP said the incident was ‘a serious matter’ and demanded a clarification from the government.
‘The government must give clarification to the nation who is behind this and what happened. Who is spying on the ministers is an important issue in itself,’ BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
‘It is a serious matter. If what has come to light is true, then it needs to be investigated. At a time when economic corruption is spread across the country, the news of spying in the finance ministry create a situation to worry about,’ Naqvi told reporters here.
The BJP leader added that the issue becomes more important as Mukherjee is the ‘second most important minister in the government’, after the prime minister.
According to the report, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which has also its office in the premises, engaged a private detective team, which found adhesive at three locations along the edge of Mukherjee’s table. Grooves were found on the surface which could have been the imprint of a possible device, the report said.
However, the IB downplayed the incident and said the adhesive was a ‘sort of chewing gum’, the report said.
–Indo-Asian News Service
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