Espionage in Petroleum Ministry : Delhi Court remands four of seven arrested to Police custody
Feb 20, New Delhi
Delhi Metropolitan Court Friday has remanded four of the seven accused in the Petroleum Ministry document leak case to police custody till Monday and other three were sent to judicial custody for two weeks.
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police produced the accused before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal, alleging that they were providing secret material to certain corporate houses. The police alleged that incriminating documents of the Coal, Power and other Ministries were recovered from the possession of the accused.
Earlier, the Delhi Police has formed an SIT to investigate the ongoing case of corporate espionage. The police have raided the offices of a few companies and seized documents and hard drives. Government documents with details of policies on oil exploration, pricing and imports were allegedly passed on to the lobbyists, energy companies and consultants.
The police have also conducted raids at the offices of a few companies and seized documents and hard drives. Sensitive government documents with details of policies on oil exploration, pricing and imports were allegedly passed on to lobbyists, energy companies and consultants.
The men involved in the document theft allegedly used duplicate keys and fake IDs and passes to enter the Oil Ministry.The police also recovered photocopies of secret documents including input of general budget.
Reacting to the development, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, strict action will be taken against those involved.
Opposition parties, meanwhile, have asked the government to probe the matter, saying that it should reach the bottom of it.
Congress spokesman Ajoy Kumar alleged that government is not serious to deal with corruption and demanded a fair probe to investigate the corporate espionage case.
Aam Aadmi Party demanded formation of a Commission to investigate the case. Party leader Ashutosh said the Centre should carry out a time bound investigation.
CPI leader D Raja also expressed similar views saying the incident shows that there is a nexus between bureaucrats and corporate houses.
BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli wondered about the demand of investigation in the case saying the probe is already on. He told AIR that instead of criticising, political parties should congratulate the government for being aware of the problem and apprehending the people involved in it.