Phagwara, June 20: Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief and MP Simranjit Singh Mann today alleged that his phone was being tapped and his activities monitored by intelligence agencies in a bid to "silence" the voice of dissent and "overawe" the leadership of minorities. In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a copy of which was released here today, he regretted that besides the "surveillance and dogging by intelligence agencies, a 12-year-old Tada case had been reopened against him in order to silence his voice of dissent inside and outside Parliament". Mann claimed in his letter that on June 14, a person posing as a staffer of an English Daily was present at his press conference in Ludhiana. "The impostor was handed over to police but he turned out later to be an officer of the intelligence bureau," he said.
"Such a blatant exercise of authority is not possible without directions from the seniors," Mann said. Bureau Report