News Analysis India

Tag: Rona Wilson

  • Activist Rona Wilson targeted by hackers: Washington Post report

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Activist Rona Wilson, charged with terrorism and lodged in jail in Bhima Koregaon case, was targeted by hackers, including one called ModifiedElephant, whose activity “aligns with Indian state interests”, The Washington Post said in a report citing investigations by a California-based cybersecurity firm. 

    Last year, cybersecurity experts had revealed that hackers planted incriminating evidence in Wilson’s laptop.

    Now, a year later, the American newspaper cites SentinelOne to say that Wilson was targeted by two separate groups, including one group “that has been linked to widely documented cyberespionage campaigns against… India’s top foreign adversaries”.

    It further says that the other group, “responsible for planting documents on the activist’s device, dubbed ModifiedElephant by SentinelOne, shared hacking infrastructure with an attacker that researchers have long suspected of being involved in state-sanctioned political espionage”.

    The Post says that the findings published by SentinelOne showed that a group of dissidents have been under surveillance for nearly a decade now. The findings also offer “new clues about the connections between groups that cybersecurity experts have observed targeting foreign adversaries and domestic critics”.

    The report, however, did not identify the people who carried out the attacks or the entity that ordered them but notes that “ModifiedElephant’s activity aligns with Indian state interests”. Principal researcher and co-author of the SentinelOne report Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade said “two separate groups going after the same target suggests they were tasked with the job by the same entity”, the daily said.

    According to SentinelOne researchers, Wilson received dozens of emails that contained malware designed to infiltrate his computer.

    The Washington Post had earlier reported that another forensic analysis found that years before his arrest, an unknown hacker compromised Wilson’s computer and planted at least 32 documents, including a letter discussing a plot to assassinate the PM that authorities have cited as evidence.

    Three independent experts reviewed the SentinelOne report at The Post’s request and concurred with its conclusions.

  • Activist Rona Wilson’s phone infected with Pegasus spyware, says new forensic analysis

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Activist Rona Wilson’s smartphone was infiltrated using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware a year before his arrest in the Elgar Parishad case, according to new forensic analysis.

    Wilson, a prisoners’ rights activist and academic, was a victim of “surveillance and incriminating document delivery” for close to a year before his arrest in June 2018, according to the analysis.

    Digital forensics firm Arsenal Consulting said Wilson’s Apple phone was not just selected for surveillance by a client of Israel’s NSO Group but was also successfully compromised on many occasions.

    The analysis showed that two backups of the iPhone 6s belonging to Wilson had digital traces showing infection by the Pegasus surveillance tool, which its developer, the Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group, has said has been licensed only to government agencies.

    The Indian government has neither confirmed nor denied that it is an NSO Group client.

    V Suresh, National General Secretary of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said the new findings show compelling evidence in the case.

    “Now there is compelling evidence. We are exploring all legal possibilities to validate these findings based on the new type of electronic evidence,” Suresh told PTI.

  • Elgar case: HC extends Varavara Rao’s bail till September 24; NIA opposes Rona Wilson’s plea

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday extended the interim medical bail granted to 81-year-old Telugu poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, till September 24.

    The court posted the matter for hearing on September 24 when it will decide on whether to extend the medical bail further or ask Rao to surrender. Rao is suffering from several neurological and age-related ailments. 

    Rao was granted bail on February 22 for six months on a cash bond of Rs 50,000 by a Division Bench of justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale.

    The NIA opposed the extension of bail to Rao, saying his medical report does not disclose any major aliment that necessitates the extension of bail or require him to reside at his home in Hyderabad to take treatment. 

    Rao has been living with his wife P Hemalatha at Malad East in Mumbai. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Rao, informed the bench that Rao was living in a rented flat with his wife. He plead the court to allow him to reside in Hyderabad with his family.

    The NIA, which is probing the case, filed an affidavit saying, “The Taloja jail authorities have been following the jail code and providing the best medical facilities as per the jail manual. The surgery for cataract and hernia can be done in judicial custody under the supervision of doctors of government hospitals,” the NIA said.

    It however opposed an application filed by Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case accused Rona Wilson seeking temporary bail to to attend a mass organised in Kerala for his father who died last month.

    The NIA told a special court here the presence of the accused for the mass was not required, adding that the final rites were already over and Wilson was simply creating a ground for his release.

    Special prosecutor Prakash Shetty, appearing for the NIA, told the court there were chances of Wilson carrying out some illicit activity if released on bail, and that he may also influence witnesses.

    Special NIA Judge D E Kothalikar is likely to pass an order on Wilson’s plea on Tuesday.

    Wilson, who was arrested in June, 2018 and is presently lodged at the Taloja prison, sought temporary bail to go to Kerala and attend the mass.

    Wilson and several other activists were initially booked by the Pune police after violence erupted near Koregaon Bhima, on the outskirts of Pune city, on January 1, 2018, a day after the Elgar Parishad conclave was organised.

    Police had said inflammatory speeches and provocative statements made at the conclave, which it claimed was “Maoist backed”, triggered violence at Koregaon Bhima.

    The case was transferred to the NIA in January last year.

    On Monday, three other accused in the case, namely Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Surendra Gadling, were produced before the court.

    The trio told the court they were produced before it after over a year, to which the judge said they would now be produced on every hearing.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Elgar Parishad accused Rona Wilson seeks probe into alleged installation of malware on computer

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case accused Rona Wilson’s lawyer told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that an expert should be asked to probe if any malware had been installed on Wilson’s computer before it was seized by the NIA in 2018. Wilson has moved the high court seeking quashing of the charges against him.

    His petition has cited, among other grounds, a report of the US-based digital forensic firm Arsenal Consulting that incriminating evidence was planted on his computer through a malware before he was arrested.

    On Wednesday, his lawyer, senior counsel Indira Jaising told a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar that to tamper with a person’s electronic device was an offense under the Information Technology (IT) Act.

    “It is my case that crimes under the IT Act have been committed against me….I have come with a positive case that my device was tampered with and an expert should be appointed to ascertain if my computer had malware when it was seized (by the National Investigation Agency). The expert can tell how the malware was planted,” she said.

    As per Arsenal Consulting, a hacker had had the control of Wilson’s computer, and a malware (software used for malicious purposes such as spying) was used to plant documents in it, including a letter that was cited by the NIA as evidence against Wilson and other accused in the case.

    Arsenal came out with more reports later, claiming that electronic devices of other accused, including Jesuit priest Stan Swamy who died in hospital last month, too had been tampered with. Shoma Sen, another accused in the case, too has filed a petition seeking quashing of charges on the same ground.

    Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who appeared for the NIA, argued on Wednesday that the reports on which the petitioners were relying came from an organization called `American Bar Association’. “This association had no standing in India and it was not a statutory body. We are at the stage of framing of charges. All their contentions can be looked into at the stage of trial,” he said.

    Jaising had earlier told the HC that besides deciding on the issue of quashing the charges against Wilson and Sen, the court will also have to examine what could be considered a “legal method of search and seizure of electronic evidence”.

    The hearing will continue later this month.

  • No link between Elgar Parishad and Koregoan Bhima violence: Two accused to Bombay HC

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Activists Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen, arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, told the Bombay High Court on Monday that there was no connection between the Elgar Parishad event held on December 31, 3017 and the Koregaon Bhima violence that took place a day after.

    Their counsels, senior advocates Indira Jaising and Anand Grover, further told HC that the FIR against the activists had been registered in the aftermath of the Koregaon Bhima incident, which pertained to rioting and violence, and not to any terrorist activity.

    There was no legal ground for the activists to have been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the counsels told a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar.

    Advocate Jaising also raised questions on the authenticity and legal admissibility of the electronic evidence the National Investigating Agency (NIA) claimed to have recovered from Wilson’s computer, and from the electronic devices of the other accused in the case.

    She said the HC must direct an investigation into the alleged tampering of legal evidence. The bench was hearing pleas filed by Wilson and Sen challenging their prosecution under UAPA and seeking that all charges against them in the case be quashed.

    In their pleas filed in HC in April this year, Wilson and Sen said the case against them was based on forged and hearsay evidence that was planted on devices allegedly belonging to co-accused Wilson. The activists cited the report of a US digital forensic firm which claimed an incriminating letter and other material had been planted on the computers of Wilson and several of his co-accused in the case.

    On Monday, the advocates for the accused told HC that the Elgar Parishad event and the one at Koregoan Bhima took place at a distance of 7 kilometres, and two separate FIRs were registered for the two incidents.

    The Maharashtra government had said in the Supreme Court that Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote and some others were responsible for the Koregoan Bhima violence, Jaising said. “My submission is that there is no connection between the Parishad event and the violence which took place. The complaint in this case (Elgar Parishad) was made eight days later. When Milind Ekbote approached Supreme Court for anticipatory bail, the Maharashtra government submitted in an affidavit that he is responsible for the attack and hence his pre-arrest bail was rejected,” Jaising told HC.

    “Then they changed and said that these people (the activists and their co-accused) are responsible. Can these two narratives stand?” she said.

    Jaising further said the petitioners had been in prison as undertrials for three years, with no bail, and with no idea when the trial was likely to begin. “You can prosecute me for the violence, but where does UAPA come in? Where is the allegation of sovereignty and integrity of India? Every riot is not an offence under UAPA. This is a case of selective prosecution,” she said.

    On the issues raised on the credibility of the electronic evidence cited by the NIA, the HC said the same would be considered by the special court at the time of trial.

    Grover and Jaising, however, said irrespective of what the trial court held, the HC must consider what constituted legal electronic evidence and what did not. HC will continue hearing the pleas on August 4. The same HC bench reserved its verdict on the temporary bail plea filed by lawyer Surendra Gadling, another accused in the Elgar-Parishad case.

  • Elgar case: HC seeks Uddhav government’s reply on pleas of Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government to file its replies to petitions filed by activists Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen, seeking quashing of charges against them in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

    A bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale also directed the NIA, which is conducting a probe into the case, to file its reply to Sen’s petition.

    Wilson and Sen filed their pleas in the HC earlier this year, citing the report of US-based firm Arsenal Consulting which claimed electronic evidence had been planted on Wilson’s computer.

    The petitioners claimed such tampering of evidence had been done to frame Wilson and his co-accused in the case.

    Last week, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed its reply to Wilson’s plea and disputed the US firm’s report.

    The probe agency said it was refuting the allegations and claims made in the report, and urged the HC to dismiss Wilson’s plea.

    On Tuesday, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who appeared for the NIA, sought additional time to file a reply to Sen’s plea.

    The petitioners’ counsel, senior advocate Indira Jaising, told the HC that in the pleas they had also challenged the sanction granted by the Maharashtra government in 2018 to prosecute the petitioners under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

    She claimed the sanction had been granted without due application of mind.

    Since the state was the sanctioning authority, it must file its reply to both the pleas, she said.

    Jaising further claimed the then Investigating Officer (IO) in the case, Shivaji Pawar, had failed to provide all paperwork to the sanctioning authority, and that he suppressed information, particularly on the question of tampering of the electronic evidence.

    “The IO in this case failed to record that there was tampering of the computer belonging to the petitioner,” Jaising said.

    She said the IO, who was also a party to the case, must be directed to file an independent reply to the pleas.

    The Maharashtra government’s counsel, advocate Deepak Thakare, sought four weeks for the state to file its replies.

    Thakre also said he would take instructions on whether the IO could respond as a party to the case.

    The HC will hear the petitions further on June 16.

    The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave, held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city’s outskirts.

    The Pune police claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists.

  • After US firm report, activist moves Bombay High Court for Elgar case stay

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: After a report emerged claiming jailed activist Rona Wilson’s computer had been tampered with and some evidence planted on it, his lawyers moved the Bombay High Court on Wednesday for a stay on proceedings against him and his co-accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists link case.

    The lawyers of Wilson, a prison rights activist, filed a plea in the HC seeking the proceedings against him and his co-accused be stayed in the 2017-18 Pune case and a Special Investigation Team be constituted to inquire into the alleged incident of tampering.

    Wilson was arrested in June 2018 following several raids at his residence in Delhi by the Pune police, which probed the case before it was handed over to the NIA.

    Before his arrest, the police claimed to have found several incriminating material on his computer, including a letter that he had allegedly written talking of the “need for arms, and a plan to overthrow the current government”.

    The petition filed in the HC cites a digital forensic report by a US-based firm that claims the letter and other evidence had been planted in a hidden folder on Wilsons computer by an unidentified cyber attacker who used a malware to control and spy on the laptop.

    As per the report cited in the plea, Wilson’s computer was infected with a malware, called “NetWire”, that was planted through an email on June 13, 2016.

    The case pertains to the ‘Elgar Parishad’ conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police alleged, was funded by Maoists.

  • Planted evidence: Rona Wilson files plea in Bombay HC seeking dismissal of case against him

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  A new forensics report showed that key evidence based on which activists were jailed in the Bhima Koregaon case was planted on a laptop seized by police, according to a US newspaper.Several of these activists continue to be prison for over two years now. A report from Arsenal Consulting, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm which had examined an electronic copy of the laptop, said an attacker used malware to nfltrate the laptop of activist Rona Wilson.

    This examination was done at the request of Wilson’s lawyers, said the report.  The Pune Police had used letters it found on the laptop as its primary evidence in the chargesheet they filed in the Bhima Koregaon case. Wilson’s laptop was compromised “for just over 22 months”, the report said, adding that the attacker’s primary goals were “surveillance and incriminating document delivery”.

    While the Arsenal report has not identified the perpetrator, the newspaper asked three experts to reviewed the document which said the report’s conclusions were valid. The report pointed out that the initial accusations against the activists ‘heavily’ relied on incriminating letters recovered from electronic devices, especially from Wilson’s laptop. 

    The firm’s president Mark Spencer said Arsenal had so far conducted its work on the report on a pro bono basis, it said.  “The company was founded in 2009 and has performed digital forensic analysis in other high-profile cases, including the Boston Marathon bombing.”

  • Editorial: – Why the Congress, which handles the tone of non-violence, with the riots like Maoism and Koregaon?

    The Congress, which has stirred up the chorus of non-violence, has now taken the path of violence to come to power in Yen Kane.
    Today’s big disclosure is that the Congress has been in the hands of Bhima Koregaon violence. Even yesterday it was news that a note was recovered in the raids at Lala Wilson, a member of Yalgard Council. According to this letter, the Congress party was allegedly providing financial resources to the Maoists. During the raid of Pune Police, a letter written by Comrade Ru was written on 2 January 2018.
    Before discussing it, it is necessary to tell that Mani Shankar Aiyar, on the instructions of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, went to Pakistan and said in an interview with TV channel that Pakistan should help to remove the Modi government. After this Anchor asked if they want ISI’s help.
    Today, Rahul Gandhi is a key figure: Omar Khalid, Kanhaiya Kumar, Hardik Patel and are under trial for sedition.
    Even the five people arrested in the violence of Bhima Koregaon are possible even in the cases of sedition, it is possible. Jigres Mewani is also in the eyes of the Pune police. All this is helpful to Rahul Gandhi. Apart from this, women like Teesta Shitalwar are also included in this list.
    Regarding the Bhima-Koregaon Violence, MLA Jignesh Mayvan, independent MLA from Gujarat, has come under the radar of the police. Pune’s Joint Commissioner (CP) Ravindra Kadam informed about this during the press conference. He said that if necessary, Mewani can be called for questioning under investigation.
    In the case of Bhima-Koregaon violence, the police has arrested Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Rao, Ronana Wilson, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut. Stating that further, the police said that the police is investigating the whole matter and under this we (Police) have searched the houses of some of them. Rana Wilson’s house has been recovered by the police, pen drive, other documents including the hard disk. Along with this, the police is exploring the story of the involvement of Ronana Wilson and Surendra Gadling in the Naxal.
    The 200th anniversary of the Bheem-Koregaon War, which was celebrated in the beginning of January, took a violent turn, in which a young man was killed and many were injured. Including 10 police jawans.
    In the case of Bhima Korgaon violence, Prakash Ambedkar was also named. Dr. Nayeemam, senior editor of Times Now, has threatened Dr. Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.
    On January 1, the police arrested Sudhir Ravel, a Dalit activist from Mumbai and others from Nagpur and Delhi in the case of Bhima-Koregaon violence. Police raided some members of Yalgard Council and a note was recovered in this raid, in which the conspiracy of Bhima-Koregaon violence was exposed.
    The Maoists are referring to the Congress in the letter written to the Yalgard Council, that the Dalit movement will help in furthering the movement. Along with that, he says that Jignesh Mewani and Omar Khalid will work on the bridge between them and the Congress. Not only this, Ambedkar’s nephew Prakash Ambedkar has also been told about how he wants to take advantage of the Dalit movement together with the Maoists.
    A letter has been recovered in the raid conducted by Pune Police, which is clear that some people were plotting to fulfill their political interests.
    It is evident from the fact that the Congress, which has stirred up the silence of non-violence, now wants to control the Maoist violence by spreading Dalits, peasants and spreading caste-rioting and creating a situation of civil war, to capture power. After being in power for 60 years now, he is stammering without power.
    This is the reason why Congress leaders strongly protested against Pranab Mukherjee to attend the Sangh program and address the volunteers.
    We hope that this leader of the address given by the former President today will try to maintain the unity and integrity of the country.