Corporate espionage: Camera operator switched off CCTVs to help theft of documents, says Delhi Police

NEW DELHI: The petroleum ministry officials accused of leaking sensitive documents were aided in their designs by the CCTV camera operator, who switched off the devices to allow the late-night theft of documents, the Delhi Police has said in its chargesheet.

According to the chargesheet, filed last week, the CCTV cameras installed at the ministry's offices in Shastri Bhavan curtailed the free movement of the accused.

"To overcome this hindrance, (ministry staffer) Asharam along with his son had a meeting with the operator, Vir Singh, and lured him for switching off the CCTV camera as and when required during the night," the police say in the report.

Singh, who is currently on the run, agreed to their lucrative offer, they add.

READ ALSO: Essar paid Rs 45,000 per month for files

Even on the intervening night of 17-18 February, when the racket was busted, Singh had switched off the cameras to allow the accused free movement in the offices after 10pm. The conclusion of the investigation regarding Singh will be detailed in a supplementary chargesheet, the police said.

The chargesheet also details the analysis of call detail records (CDR) to support their claim that the suspects frequented the ministry offices at night. According to the police, the cell ID location for three numbers of Asharam's son Lalta Prasad was found to be at the building at odd hours, as was the location for two of his brother Rakesh's numbers. Rakesh and Lalta are both former multi-tasking Shastri Bhawan staffers who quit in 2012.

The CDR reports also point to the fact that the suspects used multiple mobile numbers, a majority of which were registered in others' names. K K Nayak of Cairn India, who is among the 13 people arrested in the case, used his driver Subhash's mobile phone to speak to Lalta and Rakesh. The report says the suspects exchanged as many as 105 calls in the month of February alone. Lalta and journalist Santanu Saikia, also under arrest, spoke 36 times in February, the report says.

READ ALSO

8 documents were classified

Leakgate spreads to finance, commerce ministries, 3 held

According to the chargesheet, Asharam and ministry staffer Ishwar Singh also helped the former's sons get duplicate keys to the ministry offices.

"On February 22, accused Lalta Prasad and Rakesh Kumar led the police team to two keymakers Jamin Ali alias Yameen and Shahid Khan who prepared the duplicate keys of MoPNG (ministry of petroleum and natural gas) offices for the accused. Yameen and Shahid identified Lalta Prasad and Rakesh Kumar and stated that the two used to bring original keys to them," the chargesheet states.

The keymakers told the police that they didn't suspect foul play, and had prepared copies of keys 2-3 times for the duo. Their statement in this regard was recorded separately.

Apart from keys, the accused had also prepared a fake temporary pass/I-card with the help of arrested accused Virender Kumar, who was part of the housekeeping staff at Audit Defence Services. Virender too has been chargesheeted in the case.

The cops are now in the process of filing a second chargesheet in the case which will detail the role of key suspect Lokesh Sharma, accused of stealing information from the ministries of coal, power and petroleum. A chargesheet supplementing the one filed on Saturday and elaborating on the forensic findings will be filed in the coming weeks as well.

http://ift.tt/1nIhbyK Bhavan,Petroleum ministry,Leakgate,Delhi Police

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.