India crackdown on corporate espionage |
India`s sensational petroleum ministry document leakage case assumed wider dimensions as seven more people, including a former journalist, an energy consultant and officials of corporate entities, were arrested. The police complaint said the papers stolen included inputs for the forthcoming Union Budget and a letter relating to the PMO. The stolen documents were also related to the power and coal ministries, police said. Those arrested by Delhi Police included RIL corporate affairs manager Shailesh Saxena, Jubilant Energy senior executive Subash Chandra, Reliance ADAG DGM Rishi Anand, Essar DGM Vinay and Cairns India GM KK Naik. The massive crackdown was the result of a four-month-long investigation conducted by the intelligence agencies at the behest of national security adviser Ajit Doval. He raised an alarm over the frequent reporting of classified matters in the media. A TV channel`s report saying the Prime Minister was shown images of INS Arihant, a nuclear submarine, at a DRDO function proved to be the last straw. The NSA is learnt to have written to the cabinet secretary, Ajit Kumar Seth, sometime in mid-October, saying such reports based on classified information undermined national security and were an offence under the Official Secrets Act. Doval also pointed out that most leaks came from government offices and there was a need to follow official protocol related to classified information. Seth then took up the matter with the ministers. The probe led to the petroleum ministry where Asharam, a peon with access to petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan office, turned out to be one of the key men in the racket.
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