Kerala first bought Israeli company Cellebrite’s mobile phone extraction software during the previous tenure of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, according to an investigation by MediaOne.
The software was bought on 27 September 2024, MediaOne reported, citing a tender issued by the Kerala State Forensic Science Laboratory as proof.
CPI(M) veteran Pinarayi Vijayan, then Chief Minister of Kerala, held the Home portfolio during that period.
The finding comes after an investigation by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) found that Kerala’s Home Department had entered into a contract worth ₹99.99 lakh with Alibi Global Pvt Ltd for Cellebrite-related procurement. The IFF investigation also named Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, both governed by the Congress, along with Union government agencies including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and the Department of Military Affairs.
Cellebrite, closely linked to the Israeli military, has developed software that can bypass passwords and security protocols on smartphones and computers to extract data from them.
According to a report by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Israeli forces have extensively used the technology on Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including to extract data from the phones of thousands of detained Palestinians, many of whom have been subjected to systematic torture.
