Two energy consultants, including a former journalist, have been arrested in connection with the corporate espionage issue which shook the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. With this, the total number of arrests in the issue, where key policy documents were purportedly stolen from the Ministry’s Shastri Bhawan office and sold to energy consultancies and other oil companies has risen to seven.
Confirming the development, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said that former journalist Santanu Saikia and Prayas Jain were arrested after interrogation. While Mr. Yadav did not divulge on the specific roles of the two, sources said Mr. Saikia had masterminded the whole conspiracy and acted as a buffer between the companies who wanted an access to the documents and the men who carried out the job. Mr. Saikia has a long experience as a journalist and currently runs a website which provides content on petrochemicals and energy security.
Earlier on February 17, 2015, Delhi Police Crime Branch had arrested five others, four of whom were either serving as staff members at Shastri Bhawan or had previously done so. The arrested men will be produced before a court later in the day.
