A Delhi court on Friday allowed the Delhi Police to take former journalist Santanu Saikia and three other accused in their custody for interrogation in connection with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry’s secret documents theft case.
The three other accused in the case were remanded to judicial custody.
Earlier, the investigating officer of the case submitted before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal that the seven accused persons charged with stealing “secret and confidential’’ documents of the Petroleum Ministry had also extended their net to the Coal and Power Ministries.
The investigating officer made this submission while seeking police remand of Saikia and the three other accused to interrogate them to find out their other accomplices involved in the documents theft in the three Ministries.
He submitted that several incriminating documents of the Power and the Coal Ministries had also been recovered during the investigation. The accused used to steal the documents from the ministries and sell them to various consultancies who in turn would allegedly supply the papers to various private companies for a consideration.
But when the court asked from the investigating officer the names of the corporate houses that were purchasing the documents from the accused persons, he avoided to name them in the open court, saying that their names were mentioned in the case file submitted to the court.
The accused did not seek bail. But counsel for Saikia challenged the description of the seized stolen documents by the investigating agency as secret and confidential. His counsel further submitted that whatever documents his client had in his possession it was for his professional purposes.
