MHA director mole helped telecom firm: police

Talwar owns Deepak Talwar Consultants whose joint venture with Telcordia,MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India Pvt Ltd,got the contract for MNP.

Investigations have established that telecom consultant Deepak Talwar allegedly roped in Home Ministry official Ravi Inder Singh who is currently in jail for allegedly divulging sensitive information through businessman Vineet Kumar,for obtaining information on file notings as well as regular guidance in obtaining security clearance for Telcordias mobile number portability (MNP) application.

Talwar owns Deepak Talwar Consultants whose joint venture with Telcordia,MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India Pvt Ltd,got the contract for MNP.

The voice sample of Talwar matches with the intercepts we have of conversations between Talwar and Vineet Kumar, said a senior official of the Delhi Police.

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Singh,a West Bengal cadre IAS officer posted as director in the Home Ministry,is now suspended and behind bars while Vineet,CMD of Temptation Foods Pvt Ltd,is in police custody.

They were arrested by Delhi Polices Special Cell on November 23. Last week,a Delhi court rejected bail to Singh,saying he has committed a crime against the state and undermined its sovereignty.

Sources said that in these intercepts,Vineet Kumar purportedly apprises Talwar of the status of Telcordias application,objections by various agencies and names of top officials who need to be contacted to help get these objections lifted.

In one of the intercepts,Vineet directs Talwar to arrange the samaan (possibly a reference to money) before the Department of Telecommunications issues the no-objection certificate to Telcordia, a source said.

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Intercepts also show that Singh told Talwar of objections raised by his immediate superiors and by R&AW and the possible recourse he could take to get it struck down.

The intercepts,and Talwars matching voice,are to be used as primary information to link Singhs sudden rise in assets in both Singh and his wifes name to Rs 84 lakh.

A voice match was necessary as both Talwar and Vineet used mobile phones not registered in their names,officials said.

Singh played a major role in getting security clearance to Telcordias MNP application and justified it on grounds that the Indian partner Deepak Talwar Consultants had the required expertise in telecom services and security would not be compromised.