Amid reports of several high-profile politicians ministers and civil servants being targets or 'potential' targets of snooping using the Pegasus spyware, several bureaucrats and businessmen were also likely targeted, The Wire reported.
The names that have surfaced in the latest report include former top PSU officials such as Naresh Goyal, founder chairman of Jet Airways; BC Tripathi, ex-chief of GAIL India; Ajay Singh, SpiceJet chairman and managing director, and Essar Group’s Prashant Ruia.
The list also includes Vikram Kothari of Rotomac Pens, his son Rahul Kothari, and former Aircel promoter C Sivasankaran, all of whom had to face the law over alleged loan frauds in the past.
The numbers of former boss of Life Insurance Corporation of India and a former executive director of the Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertiliser Corporation also feature on the list.
Naresh Goyal
According to the report, Goyal was a target after Jet Airways was headed towards bankruptcy towards the end of 2018, following which Goyal and his wife stepped down from the board in March 2019.
Goyal's name reportedly appeared in the list just weeks before he was stopped from leaving the country at the Mumbai airport in May 2019 and until around a month after that.
The Centre in July 2019 had ordered a probe into several Jet Airways group companies. Goyal was later under the ED scanner in 2020.
C Sivasankaran
According to The Wire, Sivasankaran's name was in the list just a month before he faced CBI investigation over number of the the IDBI loan fraud case.
Mid-Level Officers of Adani Group, Essar Group, Reliance
The list reportedly also features mid-level officers of Adani Group, Essar group, and a former SpiceJet official, whose roles, according to the report, include "engaging with thorny policy issues that affect their companies."
The Wire said that it would not reveal their names as all of them requested anonymity.
V Balasubramanian, long-time associated with Reliance Industries, and AN Sethuraman of Reliance ADA Group were also targeted according to the report. They were involved in an Official Secrets Act case pertaining to stolen government documents.
Executives of Mutual Funds Industry
Corporate Executives from companies such as Franklin Templeton, DSP BlackRock and Motilal Oswal were also potential targets.
The Wire, however, said that their "reportage could also not ascertain whether whether their presence on the list is tied to their occupation."
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