'Leaked papers helped tweak corporate policies before government'

Stolen documents from the offices of Union Coal Ministry and Union Power Ministry were marked ‘secret’ or ‘confidential’ and helped tweak corporate policies even before the government policies were finalised, Delhi Police said on Monday.

Due to the secrecy of the documents, police are contemplating invoking the Official Secrets Act in the second case filed on Sunday.

“The documents recovered from Lokesh Sharma were sensitive in nature and related to policy matters of the ministry,” said Delhi Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi.

On Monday, police demanded the custody of Lokesh to find out who are part of the racket and who gave the documents.
The court remanded Lokesh to police custody for five days.

The other seven
Police sources said seven employees from the coal and power ministries have also been detained for questioning and more arrests are likely.

Police received clues about Lokesh while investigating the first case of the racket.
“He committed the crime with the help of his accomplices and in connivance with some of the staff of these ministries,” said Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.

Lokesh, an employee of Infraline, an energy consultancy firm based in Noida, was arrested in south-west Delhi’s Dwarka.

During questioning, Lokesh told police that his company publishes a magazine, Infraline Plus, which is widely circulated in the ministries and he would procure documents for its content.
Lokesh was produced in Dwarka court on Monday.

Sources said his father used to work as a driver in Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry and was aware of the loopholes in the system.

“Lokesh claims to have worked at the behest of his senior officials. These senior officials are likely to be questioned,” sources added.

After procuring the documents for his firm, Lokesh used to sell them to other energy consultants and corporates who had a direct tie-up with their firm.

Sources said five persons from Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry and two from Union Coal Ministry are also being questioned.
DH News Service