Corporate espionage: Top officials of energy companies to be questioned - Times of India

NEW DELHI: The arrest of mid-level officials of top energy companies is likely to spell trouble for the senior management of these companies. Investigators say they are in the process of summoning them on the basis of the evidence they have collected and the disclosures made by the arrested officials.

Delhi Police says the companies were "direct beneficiaries" of the leaked documents. "The companies made windfall gains after procuring these documents as they were aware about policy decisions much earlier. They had a first-mover advantage and thus national security was compromised," said a senior officer.

Crime branch told a trial court on Saturday that on this very ground charges under the stringent Official Secrets Act might be slapped. These documents were clearly analyzed by the seniors of these executives who will be questioned now, the court was told.

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The five accused produced in court were manager (corporate affairs), Reliance Industries Limited, Shailesh Saxena; DGM at Essar Vinay Kumar; GM of Cairns India KK Naik; senior executive at Jubilant Energy Subhash Chandra and DGM, Reliance ADAG, Rishi Anand. Chief metropolitan magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal allowed the cops to question the accused for three days, sending them to police remand till February 24.

The police say there is evidence to indicate that some of the companies hired people with "good contacts" specifically for the purpose of obtaining information easily. One such official, according to the police, was Chandra who has claimed that he earlier worked with the petroleum ministry.

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