BHOPAL : The issue of using the services of a private firm to obtain call detail records (CDRs) illegally has created a stir in the state. Several top police officers have lost sleep over the notices issued by the Supreme Court on Prashant Pandey’s petition. Police are trying to hush up the case Information is being collected about police officers and others who used to take the help of ‘Spandan Technologies’ for getting unauthorised access to CDRs.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has also taken notice of the matter. It seems that the petition must have been on his mind when at a cabinet meeting, he had advised Ministers to be careful while talking on phone. The Ministers were also asked to caution those close to them and their OSDs so as to avert any Vyapam-like incident.
Sources said the government’s wrath may fall on many top cops. The Director General of Police Surendra Sinh said that no wrong has been done by the Police and that all investigations were made using legal channels. Home Minister Babulal Gaur has said no to the suggestion that state government should order a probe into the matter. Gaur said as the matter was before the Supreme Court, the government cannot set up a parallel probe.
Several people including industrialists, businessmen and politicians were obtaining CDRs of their rivals through the company. Besides exposing confidential information, the CDRs were also being used for blackmail.
Pandey’s counter-offensive?
The petition of Prashant Pandey seems to have some or the other connection with the Vyapam scam. The Special Investigating Team (SIT) had dubbed the pen drive and excel sheet submitted by Pandey as forged. By filing this petition in the Supreme Court, Pandey has put the Police Department in hot waters. The Special Task Force (STF) investigating the Vyapam scam will now have to tell the Supreme Court as to how it got the CDRs. The STF obtained CDRs of several persons through Pandey. In this situation, the conclusions drawn by the STF on the basis of CDRs may come under a cloud. If it is proved that CDRs were obtained unauthorisedly, it would be an embarrassment for the STF as well as the government.
