DELHI--With the arrest of another energy consultant, the Delhi Police have brought the coal and power ministries also under the ambit of an investigation that began with the alleged leak of official documents from the petroleum ministry last week. Police sources said seven employees from the coal and power ministries have been detained for questioning and more arrests are likely.
Lokesh Sharma, an employee of Infraline, an energy consultancy firm based in Noida, was arrested from Delhi’s Dwarka area. Police said two forged identity cards of the coal and power ministries and “official” documents were recovered from him. Police sources said during questioning, Sharma said that his company publishes a magazine, Infraline Plus, which is widely circulated in the ministries and he would procure documents for its content.
Following his arrest, a second FIR was lodged under IPC sections for trespass, forgery and criminal conspiracy. Police sources said Sharma’s “module” operated independently of the one in which 12 people were arrested last week, including five executives from leading energy firms RIL, Jubilant Energy, Reliance ADAG, Essar and Cairn India.
Sharma was produced in a court on Monday. The police said the documents recovered from him were “sensitive in nature” and related to “policy matters of the ministry”. Sources said Sharma’s father used to work as a driver in the petroleum ministry and was aware of the loopholes in the system.
Seeking police remand, the investigating officer told the court: “The accused had a modus operandi in securing sensitive documents from the coal and power ministries. It also looks like even before policies were formulated related to the ministries, related documents were leaked. The accused is required to be confronted with these documents and his custodial interrogation is required. This case is not related to the case of petroleum ministry. But fake ID cards have also been used in the case.”
The Indian Express
