Hacker group Anonymous India has struck BSNL's website, demanding withdrawal of the controversial Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000 and expressing support for activist Aseem Trivedi who is on an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, Delhi for the same demand. BSNL's site – www.bsnl.co.in – is inaccessible at the time of publication, though reports claim the site was restored last night.

Activist Trivedi confirmed Anonymous had contacted him yesterday afternoon to inform him about defacing BSNL's site. Anonymous also leaked passwords and database of the state-run telecom operator. A cached version of the BSNL's home page featured an image of activist Trivedi with texts that read, "Hacked by Anonymous India. Later Anonymous India confirmed in a Twitter post on Thursday, it had hacked BSNL's site and leaked company passwords and database on Pastebin. "Anonymous India demands the withdrawal of Section 66A of the IT Act," the post said.

Attack on BSNL's site comes days after Anonymous took down official website of Union minister Kapil Sibal. Claiming the responsibility of hacking Sibal's website, Anonymous on its Twitter account said: "He (Sibal) had used the words 'Victims of freedom of Expression'. He is hiding the fact that #66A is breaking the internet media." This is not the first time Anonymous has targeted the government websites. Earlier this year, the self-proclaimed hactivists took down various government sites to oppose the move to ban file sharing and streaming websites such as PirateBay and Vimeo.