The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, Supriya Sule, faced a shocking situation on Monday when she said, ‘My WhatsApp hacked’ in an open media interaction. The Baramati MP reported to the police that hackers had threatened her team with paying $400 to regain access to her account.
Evidently, the party’s general secretary, Aditi Nalawade, was also exposed; the hackers extorted ₹10,000 from her. In an attempt to counteract these entities, Sule and her team attempted to communicate with the perpetrators of the scams, and they agreed to pay the amounts demanded to slow them down.
The hacking has spurred concern, which has forced Sule to contact the relevant authorities. She has reported the matter to the Yavat police station and has also contacted the superintendent of police, Pankaj Deshmukh, who promised to ensure that the case is investigated.
On a side note, Sule said that she was served with a notice from the income tax department after the latest budget session. The NCP (SP) leader said that she had similar notices, and it was annoying as she often got these after delivering parliamentary speeches, though she clarified that nothing untoward had happened in the past. Sule has asked her husband, Sadanand Sule, to collect some data to work out the connection between her parliamentary activities and the income tax notices she has received.
The hacking incident and the income tax notice have emerged as hurdles for the leader of the NCP (SP), who has expressed her commitment to cooperating with the authorities and ensuring the safety and security of the communication lines.
