Four of the accused in the Petroleum Ministry document leak case were today remanded in police custody till February 23 by a court after Delhi Police alleged they were providing “secret” material to certain corporate houses.

The Crime Branch of Delhi Police produced the seven accused before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal and said it required the custodial interrogation of Lalta Prasad, Rakesh Kumar, Prayas Jain and Shantanu Saikia as “sensitive” documents have been recovered.

The police alleged that “incriminating” documents of the coal, power and other ministries were recovered from the possession of the accused who were supplying these to certain corporate houses for their benefit.

Regarding the other three accused — Ishwar Singh, Asharam and Rajkumar Chaubey, the police said they were not required for custodial interrogation, so they be remanded in judicial custody.

The court after hearing the submissions, remanded the four accused in police custody till February 23, while the three others were sent to two weeks judicial custody.

On the alleged roles of the accused, the police said Chaubey was driving the car in which “secret and confidential” documents were recovered, while Asharam and Ishwar Singh used to pass on information from the Petroleum Ministry to him.

Asharam, who was working in the Petroleum Ministry, used to switch off the CCTV cameras installed in the ministry after which his sons Prasad and Rakesh used to enter the premises by using fake entry cards which they had procured by paying Rs 4,000 each, the police said.

Regarding Saikia, the police said huge amount of documents recovered from his possession, while Prasad used to illegally trespass in the Petroleum Ministry to procure the documents.

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