Close X
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
ADVT 
India

Documents Leak: Defence Ministry Staffer Arrested, Probe On

Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Feb, 2015 12:14 PM
    The corporate espionage case continued to unravel Tuesday with a defence ministry employee arrested for alleged involvement in the leak of government documents even as police continued to question some employees of the coal and petroleum ministries.
     
    Virender Kumar, a 31-year-old casual worker employed with the defence ministry since 2010, was arrested for providing a forged identity card along with official letterhead to Lalta Prasad, an accused already arrested in the documents leak case.
     
    Police, however, said no sensitive documents were found leaked or stolen from the defence ministry and he only provided blank official letterheads to Prasad that were used to prepare forged letters.
     
    These letters were used to project that a vehicle (registration no. DL13C-4734) - used by the accused while stealing the documents of the various ministries - was hired to perform official duties.
     
    "On the letters, it was shown that a contract was signed with Dharam Singh Travel Agency by the office of the director general of Audit Defence Services," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav.
     
    Kumar, a resident of west Delhi's Uttam Nagar, was produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal, who sent him to a day's police custody.
     
    Police told the court that he was required for custodial interrogation to unearth details of the fake identity card issued by him and the use of the ministry's stamp on it. They also said the letters were used by Rajkumar Chaubey, a private driver, to prepare fake permission for his vehicle to project that it was hired by the government.
     
    Lalta Prasad, 36, and Rakesh Kumar, 30 - both brothers and residents of Delhi - along with Chaubey, a 39-year-old resident of Ghaziabad, were arrested on the night of Feb 17, leading to the uncovering of the crime. All three are in judicial custody.
     
    So far, 14 people have been arrested and Delhi Police have registered two FIRs in connection with the leak of classified documents related to various ministries, including coal, petroleum and natural gas, and power.
     
    The name of Kumar is mentioned in the first FIR.
     
    Talking to the media, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said police have so far not come across any evidence that senior officials of any ministry were involved.
     
    He also said investigators have so far only come across "leakage and theft of documents from petroleum, power and coal ministries and not from any other department".
     
    "Investigation so far has revealed that the people who used to procure government documents used to rely on the employees who are the lowest on the ladder.
     
    "They used to tell them that 'this person is the target, bring all the documents you find in his office'. They used to identify the document of their choice from the bunch. So far, we have not come across the name of any senior officer and neither have we had any evidence relying on which we can say so," he said.
     
    Asked whether police will question senior officials of security agencies responsible for safekeeping of Shastri Bhawan, which house these ministries, as to how can CCTV cameras be shut down for the period of theft and those monitoring it did not come to know, Bassi said: "We have no reason so far to suspect them or question them."
     
    Meanwhile, police Tuesday questioned seven employees of the coal and petroleum ministries for the second consecutive day.
     
    Lal Babu and Ranjit Mahto, employees of the coal ministry, along with five petroleum ministry employees - Bhupendra, Amit, Virendra, Ram Kishore and Surender - were those questioned.
     
    Earlier Tuesday, RIL corporate affairs manager Shailesh Saxena, Jubilant Energy senior executive Subash Chandra, Reliance Anil Dhirubahai Ambani Group (ADAG) deputy general manager (DGM) Rishi Anand, Essar DGM Vinay and Cairns India general manager K.K. Naik were also presented in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal who sent them to judicial custody till March 5.
     
    During the hearing, the executives alleged that they were forced to sign on blank papers by police during their custodial interrogation.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Delhi Polls: AAP Mps Raise Punjab's Drugs Menace To Prevent Redux

    Delhi Polls: AAP Mps Raise Punjab's Drugs Menace To Prevent Redux
    They are just four of them but the AAP quartet in parliament is determined to make Punjab's festering problem of drugs an issue for the Delhi assembly polls with an eye on the large Punjabi population in the national capital - and to prevent the worrying problem from spilling over into Delhi.

    Delhi Polls: AAP Mps Raise Punjab's Drugs Menace To Prevent Redux

    Akali Candidate With Rs.239 Crore Is Richest In Delhi Polls

    Akali Candidate With Rs.239 Crore Is Richest In Delhi Polls
    Shiromani Akali Dal's Manjinder Singh Sirsa with assets worth Rs.239 crore is the richest among the 673 candidates in the fray for the Delhi assembly polls, a think-tank said Friday.

    Akali Candidate With Rs.239 Crore Is Richest In Delhi Polls

    Jayanthi Natarajan Quits Congress, Attacks Rahul Gandhi

    Jayanthi Natarajan Quits Congress, Attacks Rahul Gandhi
    Senior Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan, a onetime party spokesperson who was considered quite close to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Friday quit the party, sending shock waves through its political establishment. 

    Jayanthi Natarajan Quits Congress, Attacks Rahul Gandhi

    Don't Frame A Scheme If You Can't Implement It: Supreme Court Tells Government

    Don't Frame A Scheme If You Can't Implement It: Supreme Court Tells Government
    The Supreme Court Friday pulled up the central government for framing schemes and them not monitoring their implementation as it frowned at the leisurely pace at which the scheme for providing hostels facilities to SC/ST students was moving.

    Don't Frame A Scheme If You Can't Implement It: Supreme Court Tells Government

    Now No VAT Assesment For Punjab Traders With Under Rs.1 Crore Turnover

    Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Friday announced the abolition of the e-trip system for major categories besides exempting traders having a turnover less than Rs.1 crore from filing VAT (value added tax) assessment.

    Now No VAT Assesment For Punjab Traders With Under Rs.1 Crore Turnover

    RJD, JD-U Will Merge, Say Lalu And Nitish

    RJD, JD-U Will Merge, Say Lalu And Nitish
    Six "Janata Parivar" parties will certainly merge soon as there is no hurdle, former Bihar chief ministers Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad announced Friday.

    RJD, JD-U Will Merge, Say Lalu And Nitish