Gehlot's Rajasthan govt sends 'phone tapping' report to MHA amid 'horse trading' row

Amid the political turmoil in Rajasthan, sources on Wednesday reported that the Rajasthan government has sent its report on phone tapping to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Home Ministry had on July 18 asked the Rajasthan Chief Secretary to submit a report after BJP alleged illegalities on phone tapping in the state.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Rajasthan High Court reserved its order on the plea filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs challenging the disqualification notice issued to them by the Assembly Speaker. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Speaker CP Joshi said that he will move the Supreme Court challenging the decision. 

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On the other hand, the State Police has formed a special team of officers to investigate and arrest the accused in the case registered with the special operations group (SOG) in connection with audiotapes that revealed a conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot-led state government. As per reports, the eight-member team is headed by SP CID (Crime branch) Vikas Sharma. Other members of the team are Dharmendra Yadav (Additional SP-ATS), Jagdish Vyas (Additional SP-CID CB), Kamal Singh (assistant police commissioner-Jodhpur), Manish Sharma (Deputy SP- ATS), Kailash Jindal (inspector- CID CB), Suman Kaviya (Inspector- ATS) and Ramesh Pareek (inspector-ATS). The team was formed by Additional Director General (ATS and SOG) Ashok Rathore.

READ | MHA seeks report from Rajasthan Secretary on phone tapping amid political tussle: Sources

BJP demands CBI inquiry

Earlier on Saturday, addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra demanded a CBI inquiry on the phone taping after Congress released an audiotape alleging horse-trading attempts by the former. Patra asked the Ashok Gehlot government if orders were passed to tap the phones of all leaders in Rajasthan and are still going on? 

Similarly, on Friday, Rajasthan BJP chief Dr. Satish Poonia asked the whereabouts and authenticity of the 'leaked tapes'. Reiterating Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat's denial, he said that such allegations were done to defame the BJP. Moreover, he said that BJP will consult and decide on filing a defamation suit against Congress. 

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Congress presents 'leaked tapes' in court

The Rajasthan SOG produced the audio clip which allegedly features businessman Sanjay Jain talking to MLAs about money transactions in a sessions court in Jaipur. The court has now ordered Jain to a four-day remand of the Special Operations Group (SOG) team of Rajasthan Police. Moreover, sources state that accused BJP leaders -  Ashok Singh and Bharat Malani refused to give their voice samples for further investigation. The SOG team has also visited hotels in Haryana to issue a notice to the 19 rebel MLAs to collect evidence in the form of voice samples.

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