• TMC MP suspended from Rajya Sabha after protest 

• Anil Ambani, ex-CBI chief on list of targets

Indian PM Narendra Modi's main political rival Rahul Gandhi yesterday demanded an inquiry into the Pegasus spyware scandal, accusing the government of "treason", according to an AFP report.

Gandhi is one of dozens of Indian politicians, journalists and government critics on an alleged global database of 50,000 possible Pegasus spying targets that was revealed by an international group of media outlets.

The Indian government has rejected spying claims although critics note it has not said whether it is a client of NSO Group, the Israeli maker of the Pegasus spyware which effectively captures a target's cellphone.

The claims have sparked uproar in the Indian parliament, with one opposition MP on Thursday snatched and ripped up the text of a statement on the subject being delivered by IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

TMC MP Santanu Sen has been suspended from Rajya Sabha for the remaining period of the monsoon session after a motion moved by the government was passed by the House.

"Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists," Rahul Gandhi, 51, told reporters in New Delhi.

"The prime minister and the home minister have used this weapon against the Indian state and against our institutions. The only word for this is treason.... and this has to be investigated."

The alleged database of phone numbers included more than 1,000 in India, with the owners of 300 of them identified in the media reports, reports AFP.

It is not known how many of the phones on the list were actually targeted for surveillance or how many attempts were successful.

But according to Indian news website The Wire -- one of the media outlets given access to the database by two rights groups -- mounting forensic evidence suggests one or more official agency has been using the spyware.

Other possible targets revealed in the reports on Thursday include aides to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, businessman Anil Ambani, and former CBI Director Alok Verma and two other senior officers at the agency.

The numbers of Ambani and his employee Tony Jesudan entered the list in 2018, when a legal challenge had been mounted in the Supreme Court about the Indian government's deal with Dassault to purchase the Rafale jets, reports TOI.