Eknath Khadse calls: Ethical hacker moves court, seeks protection, CBI probe

Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse

MANISH BHANGALE, the 27-year-old Gujarat-based hacker who made the claim that gangster Dawood Ibrahim made calls from Karachi to the telephone of Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse, approached the Bombay High Court on Monday seeking security cover and a CBI probe into his alleged findings.

Bhangale has also pleaded that the state government be directed to ensure Khadse ‘is constrained from interfering’ into the probe. The petition is yet to be heard by the High Court and is likely to come up on June 6.

In his petition, Bhangale said he had penetrated into the authentication process of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited in April.

He claimed that his intention was to help the Indian government in detecting and nabbing the anti-national elements, such as Dawood Ibrahim and others.

He claimed he accessed six categories of information, including latest telephone bills registered in the name of Mehjabeen Sheikh along with latest call data records of gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s landline, latest frequent calling list and service request elaborating calls between Dawood and the revenue minister with timings and duration.

“I have staked my career, my family and my own life for the sake of national security by penetrating into the Pakistan telecommunications system only to be thrown to the wolves. The threats to life, apathy by police and indifference by Indian intelligence agencies have cornered me to such an extent that I am forced to repent my deed committed in the national interest,” his petition claimed.

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