An extensive forensic research by Arsenal Consulting, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm, found that at least 10 letters were planted on the laptop of Rona Wilson before his arrest, the Post said
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – No sooner than The Washington Post revealed that the key evidence to incriminate activists in the Bhima Koregaon case was planted in his laptop, researcher Rona Wilson on Wednesday approached the Bombay High Court, reports Live Law. He is seeking the formation of a Special Investigation Team to inquire into the alleged planting of fabricated documents in his computer over a course of around 22 months.
Wilson is the first person to be arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case. He, as well as 15 other civil rights activists and academics, are behind bars, facing charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The case against all the accused are based on letters primarily retrieved from Wilson and co-accused Surendra Gadling’s computer, to claim a conspiracy to kill the Prime Minister and overthrow the government.
The Washington Post report is based on an extensive forensic research by Arsenal Consulting, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm. Arsenal examined the laptop at the request of Wilson’s lawyers and found that at least 10 letters were planted on it before his arrest, the Post said.
According to Live Law, Wilson’s petition in the high court is buoyed by Arsenal’s report which has concluded that Wilson’s computer was infected with a malware, called NetWire (available for $10 online), which was planted through an email on June 13, 2016, two years before his arrest on Jun 6, 2018.
The report shows that the hacker initially carried out surveillance and later delivered 52 documents which were stored in a hidden folder called ‘Rbackup.’ The last document was added just a day before Wilson’s house was searched and his laptop was seized, on April 17, 2018.
The laboratory was asked to investigate 10 of the 52 documents in ‘Rbackup’ by the American Bar Association after Wilson’s defence team was handed over a clone copy of his hard drive, in November 2019. This was a year after the chargesheet in the case was filed.
“It should be noted that this is one of the most serious cases involving evidence tampering that Arsenal has ever encountered, based on various metrics that include the vast time span between the delivery of the first and last incriminating documents.” Arsenal has said in the report.
The report further shows that the folder in which most of the incriminating material has been allegedly found, was neither opened by Wilson nor was it ever opened on his computer legitimately. The hacker also synchronised these documents in such a way that they would get planted in any external memory device connected to the laptop, the petition states.
“That though the report drawn by Arsenal aims at examining only ten specific documents, a perusal of their report will bear out that it has found out the existence of malware which has made material changes in the content of the system without Petitioner (Wilson) even getting a hint of it,” it reads.
In his petition, Wilson seeks a stay on proceedings related to the arrest of activists in the Bhima Koregaon Case along with his immediate release as interim relief.
“It is therefore just and necessary that this Hon’ble Court does enquire into the fraud committed on the Petitioner (Wilson) in order to frame him and his co-accused with the aim of keeping them behind bars for an indefinite period of time. The said planting and framing amounts to false prosecution with malice in fact and in law as is obvious for the selective prosecution of the accused while ignoring to prosecute the real culprits of the violence that took place on 1.1.2018…This requires a thorough enquiry by this Hon’ble Court in order to ensure that the fair name of justice is not sullied,” the petition reads, according to Live Law.
As for final reliefs, the petition seeks to quash the order of sanction to prosecute all the accused, along with the chargesheets and compensation for the “agony, harassment, violation of fundamental rights, defamation, loss to reputation, incarceration, inhuman treatment,” suffered by them during this period.
Wilson has said that the SIT should include experts in Digital Forensic Analysis and be headed by a retired judge of the High Court or Supreme Court, and other appropriate persons empowered to enquire into the planting of documents to ascertain who perpetrated the crime.
It has been filed against the State, through the additional chief secretary, ACP Shivaji Pawar, the investigating officer of the case when Wilson was arrested, Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Investigation Agency, which handed over the case, last year.
