Punjab Congress demands probe into snooping on leaders

The opposition Congress in Punjab on Monday demanded a CBI probe into the alleged snooping on political leaders and others by the state government and its agencies, especially Punjab Police.

In a letter to the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa said a high-level probe should be ordered into the snooping on political adversaries, members of the media and other sections of the society by the Akali Dal government in the state.

Bajwa sought the court's intervention, and said: "Only a comprehensive and impartial investigation would unravel the manner and the extent to which Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal have converted Punjab into a police state by violating the constitution and the law with impunity."

Media reports suggested that the Punjab government imported snooping devices to keep a tab on political adversaries and those who did not toe its line.

"It is alarming that the state government is going in for purchase of more sophisticated snooping and surveillance technology and that the purchase has been cleared by an empowered committee," Bajwa said here.

"The intended purchase of such sophisticated technology was indiscriminate eavesdropping of opposition leaders, judges and members of the media for the purposes of intimidation, browbeating, muzzling and arm-twisting by the ruling Akali-BJP alliance in the state," he said.

He urged the court to suo moto take notice of the act of the Punjab government and order a probe.