Petroleum ministry leak: Fresh arrest exposes new espionage racket

The Delhi Police Monday said it had arrested another person in the case relating to the leak of petroleum ministry documents, and thus busted another espionage racket targeting the coal, power and other ministries.

"We have arrested one more person, Lokesh, who used to provide stolen documents of coal and petroleum ministry to some corporate houses. His arrest led us to bust another racket," Delhi Police chief B.S. Bassi told the media.

Lokesh, in his 30s, has been a former member of the multi-tasking staff (MTS) at Shastri Bhawan in the past.

He was produced before the chief metropolitan magistrate Satish Arora in a court in Dwarka and was sent to five days' police custody.

Lokesh, who is currently employed with Noida-based energy consultant company Infraline Energy, dealt with documents being stolen from coal and power ministry and passed it to his employers, police said, adding the firm has a huge database of subscribers, both individuals and corporates.

Police sources said corporate espionage was not limited to the petroleum ministry only as Lokesh used the stolen information from the coal and power ministry for the company he worked with.

Police said that a second FIR has been registered against Lokesh and some other people as they were found to be part of another racket in which they used to provide classified documents related to petroleum, power and some other ministries.

The sources said that the crime branch got information about Lokesh during the ongoing probe into the petroleum ministry leak that was unearthed on the night of Feb 17, with the arrest of two former MTS employees of Shastri Bhawan.

Lokesh was connected with some other people, who had relations with corporate houses who used the stolen documents provided by the accused to them, police said.

He was taken to Shastri Bhawan Monday to recreate the crime scene. Lokesh, who went missing a day after the espionage case came to light, was detained a day before his arrest Sunday.

On Monday, the Delhi Police team, meanwhile, detained more than eight people working with different ministries including coal, petroleum and energy from Shastri Bhawan.

Police sources also said that they were on the lookout for Rajiv Singh, a coal ministry employee and also some of Lokesh's associates.

More arrests can take place including those from corporate and government sector, sources added.

Earlier, police arrested 12 people, including a former journalist and five corporate officials, in connection with the case.