Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the newly inducted IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were potential targets for snooping, The Wire reported on Monday. The news portal was part of the global media consortium that investigated the alleged hacking of 300 personalities in India through Israeli spyware Pegasus sold only to the government. The spyware was used to target journalists, activists and political leaders. Opposition parties on Monday demanded an independent judicial or parliamentary committee probe.

Nearly 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two serving ministers, 40 journalists, three Opposition leaders and one sitting Supreme Court judge, besides scores of business persons and activists in India, were on the list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified Indian agency, reported The Wire.