NEW DELHI:The Delhi Police on Saturday intensified their probe into the corporate espionage ring, saying “national interest was taken for a ride” and mulled invoking the Official Secrets Act against the 12 arrested people, including five corporate executives. The police got three-day custody of the executives for questioning even as they raided the office of a petrochemical firm in Noida after searching the office of energy consultant Prayas Jain.
Meanwhile, Santanu Saikia, a former journalist and a key accused in the corporate espionage case claimed that it was a Rs 10,000 crore scam that he was trying to uncover. Saikia now operates an energy consultancy website. “Please quote me,” he said as policemen took him in for interrogation.
Reacting to his claim, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Saikia was saying such things for covering up his own defence.
“Let him spill out all the information he has. The primary accusation is that somebody stole the papers from the ministry. Police is investigating. Anybody has the right to tell everything to the police,” he said.
While producing the corporate executives before a court here, Delhi Police said, “National interest was taken for a ride in the case. Documents related to national security have been recovered. This may attract charges under the Official Secrets Act.” The police sought their custody, saying the accused might tamper with the evidence if released at this stage.