NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police probing the sensational corporate espionage case registered a separate FIR related to leakage of classified documents from Coal and Power Ministry to private companies and energy consultancy firms. The investigators from Crime Branch arrested Lokesh Sharma, an employee of Noida based Infraline Energy, after several round of questioning. Sources said Lokesh, 33, was operating as a separate module, and was also providing documents to accused Prayas Jain, CEO Metis and Santanu Saikia, who was running Indianpetro.com.
The FIR have been lodged under same sections of 457 (trespass), 380 (theft), 465 (forgery), 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ravindra Yadav said seven people have been detained for allegedly providing classified government documents to Lokesh Sharma and other accused. While three to four were related to Lokesh, rest were linked to first set to module already arrested in Petroleum Ministry espionage case. Yadav said Lokesh, who was sent to five day police custody, and his associated were operating for the past several years unlike other modules active since last two years.
“We came to know that Lokesh was active probably in two or three ministries and was giving out information to four or five companies. He was not only active in Petroleum but was also procuring documents from Coal and Power Ministries,” Yadav added.
Intense scrutiny of staff planned
The government has decided to launch intense scrutiny of staffs employed in the ministry which also includes complete profiling of multi tasking staffers hired by the ministry as typists and clerks. A source said the government will enhance the role of the Intelligence Bureau to carry out discreet inquiries to weed out the corrupt officials besides preparing annual top secret reports about the functioning within the Ministry.