Corporate Espionage Case

Rajnath vows strictest punishment Agencies NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 21 In the wake of the sensational corporate-espionage case which has rocked the country, home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that those involved in the scandal would not be spared and strictest punishment would be meted out to them. He said the police probe into this case will soon unravel the truth about everything. Talking to reporters in here at a function, he said, "Jaldi doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani ho jayega (Everything will be clear soon). No guilty person would be spared and strictest punishment would be given to them."The home minister also did not rule out a nexus between middlemen and government officials in the case. He said, "It is possible. I am not ruling out any possibility. Delhi Police investigating the whole issue. I think the issue will come to light very soon." "But, it is certain that such things have been going on for a long time and that is why the situation has reached such a stage," he added. Singh said it is a matter of satisfaction that the espionage case has been unravelled by the NDA government. "If we were not alert, these things would not have come to light," he said. So far, twelve people have been arrested in the case. 'Rs 10,000 crore scam' Meanwhile, making a dramatic claim in the corporate espionage case, arrested journalist Santanu Saikia has said that it's a Rs 10,000 crore scam. Saikia made the dramatic admission while going out of the Delhi Police crime branch office. "Quote me, I was doing a cover up," Saikia said. "It's a Rs 10,000 crore scam," he said. Earlier, former newspaper reporter Saikia, detained by the police for interrogation over the leak of government documents had denied any links to the gang that stole papers from the petroleum ministry. He is, however, being extensively quizzed about certain documents found in his possession and his call records, police said. Police have maintained that they had strong prima facie evidence against him which indicated his connivance with certain elements involved in the nexus. Saikia, his family said, had earlier been accused by the CBI of similar charges. "He won a case against CBI in 2009 over accusations that he had access to sensitive material," he said. Police raids office of Noida-based petrochemical firm PTI NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 21 Intensifying its probe into the sensational corporate espionage scandal, Delhi Police Crime Branch today raided the office of a petrochemical company in Noida after it searched the office of arrested energy consultant Prayas Jain. Police sources said that Subhash Chandra, a senior executive with Jubilant Energy, who was arrested along with four other top officials of energy companies yesterday, was taken to Jain's office in the morning. After searching Jain's office, the police team took him to the Noida office of Jubilant Energy. His office and some other rooms were searched by the police to recover stolen documents. Asked about the issue, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said, "We have searched places which were necessary for the course of investigation. We may further raid places as our aim is to reach the bottom of the whole thing." The five senior executives from top energy firms, who were arrested in the sensational corporate espionage scandal, will be produced in a local court here this afternoon and Delhi Police will seek their custody for further interrogation. "We had arrested five persons. There interrogation is going on. They will be produced before a local court. We'll request court to send them to police custody, so we can further interrogate them," added Bassi. The police chief also said that investigation is on in the case and it will end only when a charge sheet will be filed. The five persons, who were arrested by the Crime Branch last night, have been identified as Shailesh Saxena from RIL, Vinay Kumar from Essar, KK Naik from Cairns, Subhash Chandra from Jubilant Energy and Rishi Anand from ADAG Reliance. "We need to know since how long this has been going on and who all benefited from it," said a senior official. According to police, all these company executives allegedly received stolen documents which have been recovered by police teams during raids from their establishments. Saxena is Manager, corporate affairs, Reliance Industries Limited(RIL); Chandra is senior executive, Jubilant Energy; Anand is DGM, Reliance ADAG; Vinay is DGM, Essar and Naik is GM, Cairns India.