India News | Tharoor-led Par Panel Questions MeitY Officials on Pegasus, Hacking of PM Modi's Twitter Handle: Sources

New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) Top officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) were on Monday queried about the hacking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter handle and the Pegasus issue by a parliamentary panel led by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, sources said.

The officials deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on the subject of safeguarding citizens' rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms, including special emphasis on women security in the digital space.

Also Read | Patagonia, US Fashion Brand, Chooses Khadi Denim For Its Apparels.

During the course of the proceedings, panel chairman Tharoor questioned about the alleged hacking of phones using spyware Pegasus, to which the officials responded that the matter is subjudice, sources said.

"When Tharoor sought their cooperation, officials simply ducked the question by saying that they have nothing to say on Pegasus," a source claimed.

Also Read | Maharashtra Shocker: Woman Dies By Suicide Over Alleged Harassment By In-Laws In Kohlapur; Case Registered.

Members of the panel also questioned MeitY officials about the hacking of Prime Minister Modi's Twitter handle, but sources claimed the officials appeared clueless about the issue and stated what was already available in the public domain.

Prime Minister Modi's Twitter handle was briefly hacked on Sunday and a tweet claiming that India has "officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender" was put out from it.

The Prime Minister's Office later said the account was immediately secured after the matter was escalated to Twitter.

According to reports, Twitter has stated that it is directly in touch with PMO over the issue.

This is not the first time that a Twitter handle associated with the prime minister has been compromised.

In September 2020, the handle of his personal website was hacked and even then tweets promoting bitcoin, seen to be linked to a scam, were posted from @narendramodi_in.

Modi's accounts are not alone in being targeted by hackers for pushing bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, as handles of several noted public personalities, including Barack Obama and Bill Gates besides those from fields like entertainment, have been targeted in the past.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)