Government hacking my children's Instagram accounts: Priyanka Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's allegations that the Instagram accounts of her children have been hacked will be investigated by the government's advanced anti-cybercrime unit, sources have said.

The centre decided to investigate the allegation on its own. Priyanka Gandhi has not filed a formal complaint yet.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, or CERT-In, which comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will look into the allegations that the Instagram accounts of Priyanka Gandhi's children were hacked. The CERT-In runs an advanced lab that can trace hackers and prevent cyberattacks.

Asked to comment on pre-election raids on political opponents and allegations of illegal phone surveillance, Priyanka Gandhi yesterday alleged the government has been preying on her children on social media.

"They are even hacking my children's Instagram accounts, let alone phone tapping. Do they not have any other work?" she said in response to a question.

Priyanka Gandhi and other opposition leaders have also been demanding a thorough investigation into allegations of phone snooping using the spyware Pegasus made by Israeli firm NSO.

A political controversy has been brewing for long since November 2019, when the Congress claimed that the phones of three opposition leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, were hacked by the government. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made a similar claim.

The Pegasus spyware case is now in the Supreme Court, which formed an inquiry headed by a retired judge in October this year to look into allegations that the Israeli-made spyware was used to snoop on journalists, activists and politicians.

Priyanka Gandhi is the Congress's Uttar Pradesh unit in-charge tasked with a challenge to overhaul the party's fortunes after abysmal shows in the last few elections.

Daughter of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi who became the latest member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to enter politics ahead of the 2019 general election, Priyanka Gandhi has been seen with a more assertive approach this time than last when the Congress bombed, scoring just one parliamentary seat.