Team Anna on Saturday charged the Union government with tapping phones of all its members, including its leader Anna Hazare.
In a statement, the team said its suspicion was “confirmed” when the police acted on a conversation between two assistants of Mr. Hazare on his desire to visit the Rajghat on arrival here on Friday. One of the assistants read out the social activist's note on Thursday to Team Anna media coordinator Aswathi Muralidharan expressing his willingness to go to the Rajghat. This was not to be disclosed to anyone as he preferred to sit there alone in peace. However, within 15 minutes of the telephonic conversation, Team Anna's office received a police call seeking details of Mr. Hazare's visit. The police action completely shocked the team. Were Mr. Hazare and his team a security threat to the country, asked the statement.
Team Anna demanded a clarification from the Union Home Minister and the Home Secretary if the latter had given the orders, as required under the law, for tapping the phones and the reasons for it. The statement questioned the process of ordering tapping and said Team Anna had demanded that this power be vested with the Lokpal, and not with any anti-corruption probe agency.
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