After the leak of documents from his ministry, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday asserted that all those who subverted the system would be punished. He, however, made it clear that the government was not targeting any particular corporate.
He also said that his ministry is ascertaining whether standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling confidential information was violated.
"Yeh kisi ek ke bare mein ya kisi ek ki khilaf nahi hai. Hamare ghar mein chori hui hai and humne competent system ko approach kiya is cheeze ko throughly investigate karne ke liye. (this is not about anyone (corporate), or against an individual. Our house has been burguled and we approached the competent authority for investigation," Mr Pradhan told the Press Trust of India.
His comments came as the probe by Delhi Police continued to expand with 12 people, including five executives of private companies, being arrested and raids being carried out at various places. Those arrested include two staffers of the ministry.
The arrested executives belong to Reliance Industries, Essar, Cairn and Reliance Group.
Asked if there were indications of involvement of senior officials including at the level of joint secretary, the Oil Minister said, "all this is speculation. I do not have any information... let the probe be completed.
Mr Pradhan refused to identify the specific instance that led to the complaint but said "we had discomfort (over a certain incident) and competent authorities were informed".
"Any secret file or document has to be hand delivered or has to be sent in sealed envelop," Oil Secretary Saurabh Chandra explained.
"There is an SOP. That has to be strictly adhered to, right from my office to down below," Mr Pradhan said.
The ministry is now looking into how the people alleged for theft could lay a hand over keys to seven rooms.
After the arrest of five people -- two Petroleum Ministry staffers and three middlemen -- Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi had said action was taken on a tip off that two persons along with their associates were involved in "procuring, obtaining and stealing the official documents by trespassing into the offices of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas at Shastri Bhawan on February 17."
The police on Saturday told a Delhi court that "national interest was taken for a ride" and talked about possibility of invoking Official Secrets Act.
Delhi Government Must Take Blame For Permission To Fell 422 Trees: Supreme Court "Back To Square One": Arvind Kejriwal Wants Interim Bail, Slams CBI Arrest Court Allows 26 Luxury Cars Owned By Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar To Be Sold Travel Influencer Aanvi Kamdar Dies After Falling Off A Waterfall Near Mumbai Amid Huge Row, Karnataka Pauses Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms Trainee IAS Summoned By Pune Cops Over Harassment Claims Against Collector Three Indians On Global Student Prize 2024 Top 50 shortlist Prime Accused In INDIA's Bihar Ally's Brutal Murder Arrested 13 Kg Gold, Electronic Items Worth Rs 10.33 Crore Seized At Mumbai Airport Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.