Hackers call Rahul Gandhi 'retarded', Congress cries 'conspiracy'

The Delhi Police have registered an FIR after Twitter accounts of the Indian National Congress and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi were hacked and inappropriate tweets were put out. Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has also been briefed about the hack.

Gandhi's Twitter account was renamed from @OfficeOfRG to "Retarded Gandhi" while several abusive tweets were put out from the Congress' handle. The government has also ordered an investigation into the matter.

The Delhi Police said that an investigation into the matter has been initiated after a complaint was filed on Wednesday night. They added that the police were investigating all aspects of the cyber crime.

Gandhi told ANI that the incident raises "a huge question mark on the digital security."

The Congress spoke to the officials of the Information Technology Ministry and also complained to the police cyber security cell. It took around half an hour for the party to regain control over its Twitter handle following the hack.

Eight tweets were posted from Gandhi's account at around 8:30 pm. They were deleted within an hour but new tweets were posted immediately.

The Congress, which also raised the issue in Parliament, said that the incident smacked of "sinister conspiracy and reflected disturbing insecurities of prevalent fascist culture."

One of the tweets also threatened to expose emails of the Congress party that would drop the party "down to shreds."

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala posted a series of tweets saying: "Such lowly tactics will never drown sane voice of reason nor deter Rahul Gandhi from raising people's issues. Such unscrupulous, unethical & roguish conduct of venal trolls... reflects disturbing insecurities of prevalent fascist culture."

Both accounts have now been restored.

ANI reported Twitter sources as saying that if the hacker used proxies to hack the Congress IT cell, then tracing the IP address is next to impossible.