Having learnt lessons from the espionage case of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the authorities on Friday changed the locks to all rooms. The locks of three ministries of Power, Coal and Petroleum were changed and more secure locks were put in place. Officials have also decided to install electronic eyes in the corridors of Shastri and Shram Shakti Bhavans to monitor the activities of those moving in and around sensitive rooms and installations.
The Centre has taken a dim view of the whole episode and is believed to have ordered an overhaul of the system to plug leaks. Despite a watertight Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) security at Shastri Bhavan, which houses the office of 18 Ministries, five men had been bucking the security apparatus for the past several months under the cover of darkness and leaking classified data.
Oddly enough, they were using the entry gate meant for Ministers and senior officials of their departments. According to police officials, the two employees — who work as multi-tasking staff of Shastri Bhavan — were purportedly helping the three men enter the premises using fake IDs and gate passes.
The Tata Indigo car with unauthorised Government of India signage was owned by Rajkumar Chaubey who befriended lalta Prasad, a few months ago at a shindig. lalta Prasad lured Chaubey with the promise of easy money by using his car to ferry filched documents from the Ministry. Since lalta Prasad’s father Asharam worked in the Ministry (Petroleum), they managed to procure fake ID proofs without batting an eyelid and gained entry from gate no. 2. Meanwhile, CISF spokesperson Hemendra Singh clarified: “The accused were procuring fake ID cards from outside, not from CISF officials. The personnel deployed at this gate only see proof and allow entry.”