Corporate espionage: ‘National security taken for a ride,’ says police after sensitive documents recovered
New Delhi: The five corporate executives, arrested in connection with Petroleum Ministry documents leak case, were on Saturday sent by a local court to three-day police custody for interrogation as Delhi Police alleged materials recovered from them show "national security was taken for a ride."
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal allowed the Crime Branch of Delhi Police to quiz them in their custody till February 24 as the police said charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) might also be invoked in the matter as documents related to national security have been recovered.
"National interest was taken for a ride in the case. Documents relates to national security have also been recovered. This may attract charges under the Official Secrets Act," the police said, adding that the accused might tamper with the evidence if released at this stage.
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The five accused, who were produced in the court, are Shailesh Saxena from RIL, Vinay Kumar from Essar, K K Naik from Cairns India, Subhash Chandra from Jubilant Energy and Rishi Anand from Reliance ADAG.
Saxena is Manager, Corporate Affairs, Reliance Industries Limited(RIL); Chandra is senior executive, Jubilant Energy; Anand is DGM, Reliance ADAG; Vinay is DGM, Essar and Naik is GM, Cairns India.
During the hearing, the police said these accused have been arrested on the basis of disclosure statement of the other arrested accused.
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"We need three-day police custody as recoveries have to be done and the beneficiaries have to be interrogated," the investigating officer (IO) said.
He said the probe was at an initial stage and officials of the Petroleum Ministry and other ministries will look at the documents recovered during the investigation.
The police said that documents recovered from the accused showed that the same were perused by their senior officials who would be questioned in the case.
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It said that they have to consult the officials of the concerned ministries regarding the documents seized from the accused as these materials might have a bearing on the national security.
The advocates appearing for the five accused opposed the police's plea seeking three days police custody, contending that their clients have been illegally detained since February 18 and 19.
