Petro leaks: 2 ‘consultants’ held, more arrests likely today
20 Feb 2015
The Delhi Police Crime Branch this morning arrested two more persons in the case where the contents of confidential official documents were passed on to corporates. This follows the arrest of five persons, including two employees of the petroleum ministry, on Thursday.
The accused – Prayas Jain, CEO of oil and gas consultancy Metis India, and former journalist Santanu Saikia, who now runs the online news site Petrowatch, were taken into custody after their role in the leak was allegedly established. This came after the two were already detained for questioning at the Inter State cell in Chanakyapuri till late Thursday night.
Police said the two, described as energy consultants, could have been among the recipients of the stolen documents. They are suspected to have obtained the confidential official documents from the ministry staffers. They would then allegedly ''process'' the documents and prepare notes before passing them on to big, listed petroleum and energy companies.
The more confidential the document, the higher would be the price, police sources said.
According to one report, the consultancies paid a monthly sum of between Rs25,000 and Rs50,000 to the staffers and their associates for the leaks.
Officials of many corporates are being questioned on allegations of reviewing the said documents, and more arrests are likely today.
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