Gadkari says no bugging device found in my house
NEW DELHI: Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, has denied reports that high-powered listening devices were found in his house, including in his bedroom.
In a tweet he clarified that reports of bugging devices found in his house as highly speculative.
Meanwhile, the Home ministry today rejected calls for a probe in the matter, with Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju asking how can the ministry call intervene when Gadkari himself called the entire episode ‘speculative'.
Deputy Commissioner of Police SBS Tyagi said police have not received any complaint from Gadkari in the matter.
"We did not receive any complaint from Nitin Gadkari or anyone else till now. Reports in some sections of the media that a listening devise was found inside Gadkari's house are totally speculative," Tyagi told IANS.
However former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed disappointment over the news, saying 'hope it's not true that in a democracy ministers' houses are being bugged'.
A report in The Sunday Guardian - founded by senior journalist MJ Akbar - revealed that high powering bugging devices were found in Gadkari's bedroom at his official residence in Delhi.
The report also said that the bugs were planted in Gadkari's house by a foreign agency since such sophisticated listening devices are used by the Central Intelligence Agency and the the National Security Agency.