A court here Saturday sent five officials of corporate entities, arrested in the petroleum ministry documents leak case, to three days in police custody till Feb 24.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal sent the accused to three days in police custody after the Delhi Police Crime Branch produced them before the court and sought five days custody saying they were procuring "sensitive documents" at the behest of their senior officials.
Those sent to police custody were RIL corporate affairs manager Shailesh Saxena, Jubilant Energy senior executive Subash Chandra, Reliance ADAG DGM Rishi Anand, Essar DGM Vinay and Cairns India GM K.K. Naik.
Police informed the court that the documents recovered from them were related to "national security" and charges under the Official Secrets Act may also be invoked in the matter.
"National interest was taken for a ride in the case. Documents related to national security have also been recovered. This may attract charges under the Official Secrets Act," police said.
"We have to consult the concerned ministries regarding the documents which have been recovered from their possession," they told the court.
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The counsel of the accused opposed the remand plea, saying there was nothing to be recovered from their clients.
"Our clients are not part of the conspiracy," the counsel said.
On Thursday, police arrested five people, including two petroleum ministry employees, for stealing documents and leaking them to corporate houses. Seven people were arrested Friday, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 12.
The police complaint said the stolen documents included inputs for the forthcoming union budget and a letter concerning the Prime Minister's Office. The documents were also related to the power and coal ministries, police said.