30 leaders, bureaucrats from Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh under Chinese surveillance: Report

An Indian Express report claims that China has been spying on almost 30 prominent leaders, officers and bureaucrats from Kashmir Valley and Ladakh.

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NEW DELHI: China has hatched a major espionage conspiracy against India and the communist nation is spying on over 10,000 eminent Indians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind. Many union ministers and leaders of the opposition are also being spied on by the neighbouring country, who has been locked in an aggressive melee and face-off with India at locations along the Sino-India border.

Now, a fresh report from Indian Express claims that China has been spying on almost 30 prominent leaders, officers and bureaucrats from Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. 

Among those being monitored are former members of Parliament from Ladakh, leaders of PDP and National Conference in the Valley; state Congress President Ghulam Ahmad Mir; former Union Minister Saifuddin Soz; Karan Singh, son of Hari Singh, the last king of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, said the report.

China has given this responsibility of monitoring to these Indians to a Shenzen-based company named Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. Limited.

China has also tried to spy on Zee News newsroom and is also monitoring Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary. It is to be noted that Zee News had recently ran a 'Made in India' campaign appealing to the people of the country to stop using Chinese items and buy Indian products. The campaign proved hugely successful with over 1 crore people pledging to boycott Chinese products. Zee News has also reported relentlessly from Line of Actual Control and has been regularly exposing the nefarious plans of Beijing. 

According to reports, over 10,000 eminent Indians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, several Union ministers and opposition leaders are also being spied on.

A report stated that the Chinese company is also keeping an eye on Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and their families; west Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Madhya Pradesh CMShivraj Singh Chouhan. 

Among the Cabinet ministers, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal are spied on. 

Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Singh Rawat to at least 15 former Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force; Chief Justice of India Sharad Bobde and brother judge AM Khanwilkar to Lokpal Justice P C Ghose and Comptroller and Auditor General G C Murmu; start-up tech entrepreneurs like Nipun Mehra, founder of Bharat Pe (an Indian payment app), and Ajay Trehan of AuthBridge, an authentication technology firm, to top industrialists Ratan Tata and Gautam Adani are some of the prominent names from the list.

The Chinese company is also monitoring bureaucrats in key positions; judges; scientists and academicians; journalists; actors and sportspersons; religious figures and activists, said a Indian Express report.