Israeli Pegasus snooping case: Number of activists who confirmed being contacted by WhatsApp over surveillance rises to 20

Here is a list of the people who have confirmed being contacted by WhatsApp regarding a possible breach in security

Of the 1,400-odd activists targeted worldwide, at least 19 are Indian activists, lawyers, and journalists

Of these, a majority are associated with the nine activists arrested in connection with Elgaar Parishad event

A massive debate on security and privacy in the cyber world has erupted after popular social messaging platform WhatsApp revealed that journalists and human rights activists around the world, including India, had in May 2019 possibly been put under surveillance by Israeli spyware ‘Pegasus’.

After a WhatsApp spokesperson told The Indian Express it was aware of those targeted and had reached out to them, Firstpost initially located three such individuals: Nagpur-based lawyer-activist Nihalsingh Rathod, Pune-based cultural activist Rupali Jadhav and Gadchiroli-based lawyer and human rights activist Jagdish Meshram.

Here is a list of the people who have confirmed being contacted by WhatsApp regarding a possible breach in security so far:

Name	Profession
Anand Teltumbde	Professor, Writer and Intellectual, Goa
Bela Bhatia	Human rights activist, Chattishgarh
Rupali Jadhav	Cultural Activist, Kabir Kala Manch, Pune
Nihalsingh Rathod	Lawyer, Human Rights Law Network, Nagpur (Surendra Gadling's Junior)
Shalini Gera	Lawyer, Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group, Chattisgarh
Shubranshu Choudhary	Activist, Chattisgarh
Degree Prasad Chouhan	Lawyer and Cultural Activist, Chattisgarh
Jagdish Meshram	Lawyer, Gadchiroli
Minal Gadling
Ashish Gupta	Activist, People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), Delhi
Ankit Grewal	Lawyer, Chandigargh
Seema Azad	Fouder of bi-monthly magazine 'Dastak' and PUCL activist, Allahabad
Saroj Giri	Associate Professor at Delhi University, New Delhi
Vivek Sundara	Social Activist, Mumbai
Ajmal Khan	Research scholar, New Delhi (previously PHD Scholar at TISS Mumbai)
Rajeeev Sharma	Poltical analyst, New Delhi
Sidhant Sibal	Wion Journalist, New Delhi
Santosh Bhartiya	Editor-in-Chief of Chauthi Duniya, a Hindi Sunday newspaper, New Delhi
Alok Shukhla	Convenor, Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, Raipur
Ravindranath Bhalla	Lawyer, Telangana

Of the 1,400-odd activists targeted worldwide, at least 20 are Indian activists, lawyers, and journalists. Of these, a majority are associated with the nine activists arrested in connection with Elgaar Parishad event on 31 December, 2017, (popularly called the ‘Bhima Koregaon case’ after the place where the riots took place).

Nine activists — Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira, and Vernon Gonsalves — were arrested in two separate groups in June and August last year, for allegedly inciting riots and having Maoist links.

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Updated Date: Nov 01, 2019 11:04:12 IST