Corporate espionage: Why did vigilance staff have CCTV room keys?

Investigations into the corporate espionage case show that the the CCTV control in the Petroleum ministry was under the vigilance department and not the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

This is a pertinent point that the government would need to address as the vigilance department is under the control of the ministry unlike the CISF.

Some members of the vigilance department who have access to the CCTV control room would leave the keys with the ministry staff in the evening before they left. This could have led to the accused persons within the ministry switching off the cameras while they went about their job of stealing the documents, Delhi police officials investigating the case have found.

Independent scrutiny of ministry required

The government has decided to place under the control the CISF when it comes to manning the CCTV cameras in every ministry. The vigilance department often comprises staff appointed by the particular ministry and this has not helped in the long run.

The government of India has decided that those manning the security of a ministry would have nothing to do with that particular department. The CISF personnel would be posted in each ministry and they would be transferred from time to time so that there is no bonding with the rest of the ministry staff.

The problem that has occurred is that the vigilance department officials are part of the same ministry and hence they would depend on their superiors for their perks and also promotions. This cannot be the case when it comes to such high sensitive information being guarded, an official informed.

It has been found during the investigation that the vigilance staff left the keys behind in the evening. The keys were handed over to the multi tasking staff who would in turn turn off the cameras and then steal documents.

Probe under PMO

The Delhi police has managed to identify several rooms in the petroleum ministry from where the documents were stolen. There were at least 5 such rooms from where the documents were being leaked. The staff who occupied these rooms and also the heads of each of these wings would be questioned in the days to come, the Delhi police informed.

It is the Prime Minister's office which is directly overseeing the probe. No other ministry is involved and all the details of the probe are being directly shared with the PMO only. The PMO while analyzing the details of the investigation so far has decided to go in for a major overhaul and also carry out a security audit.