Corporate espionage: Maps of upcoming oil projects were leaked

New Delhi, Feb 23: Even as former journalist Santanu Saikia claimed that he was being forced to sign on blank papers in connection with the corporate espionage case, investigations are moving at a brisk pace with more documents being seized.

A map of a site relating to a gas pipeline project between Ahmedabad to Surat was also leaked from the petroleum ministry investigations have shown.

There are many more such documents which have been siezed and the investigators tell OneIndia that one cannot put a number to the documents that have been leaked.

It is an operation that has been going on for several years now and hence we believe that the number of documents that have been leaked could be easily over a 1000.

Investigators say that the accused persons managed to steal maps of both ongoing and upcoming oil refinery projects from the petroleum ministry. This helped corporates pre-empt government action.

Former journalist denies role

Former journalist, Santanu Saikia who was arrested in connection with the case said that he is being framed. He alleged before the court when produced that he was being made to sign blank documents and was under pressure by the Delhi police.

Sakia who ran a portal and was also an energy consultant was arrested after it was allegedly found that he had abetted the leaking of the documents from the petroleum ministry. He was taken into police custody and when produced before the court as the police wanted an extention of his custody, he alleged he was being framed.

He also alleged that he was trying to unearth the scam. His claims indicated that he was carrying out a sting operation about the nexus between touts and corporates and the police wrongly arrested him.

More documents that were leaked seized

An map of a gas pipeline project between Ahmedabad to Surat was seized from the accused persons. A report on the feasibility to set up an oil refinery at Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai and a paper on oil production was also confiscated from the accused by the crime branch.

Reports of the public accounts committee and several notes on correspondence between the minister and the petroleum ministry officials was also recovered from the accused persons. All these documents had over a period time been stolen out of the petroleum ministry and leaked.

Key makers role being probed

The police are on the look out for a key maker in New Delhi who is alleged to have played a part in this operation. Most of the accused had duplicate keys with them which helped them gain access to the ministry office.

Although the key maker may have not known about the operation, he would still be able to tell the police about the persons he had been in touch with. Moreover it would be crucial to find out how the original key was taken to the key maker and a duplicate
made.

OneIndia News