DNA EXCLUSIVE - Essar whistle-blower now in Dubai: Delhi police

A key person who had provided call intercepts in the Essar phone tapping case has fled to Dubai after recording his statement before the Delhi police, DNA has learnt.

Former Essar employee Albasit Khan had provided tapped conversations of politicians, Cabinet ministers, business tycoons and Bollywood celebrities to case complainant and Supreme Court lawyer Suren Uppal. Khan told the Delhi police's SIT that he got the transcripts from Mumbai police officer Vijay Salaskar, killed in the 26/11 attacks.

The SIT approached the Mumbai Crime Branch that said it has no such records. It said it is mandatory to destroy such transcripts within six months. The SIT has no confirmation if the conversations were recorded officially or illegally.

DNA reported on Monday that the Delhi police found no corruption or threat to national security in the transcripts. "No cognizable offence was made out in the conversations received from Uppal," the SIT has said in its the 350-page report to the Home Ministry.

The SIT was formed in July 2016 on MHA directive to probe the case that pertains to alleged tapping, interception and recording of phone calls of prominent people between 2001 and 2006.

There is no immediate clarity whether the SIT report, submitted last month, is a clean chit to Essar or allegations against it will continue to be probed.

The intercepts include conversations of key members of the PMO under then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee such as NK Singh, Ranjan Bhattacharya and Brajesh Mishra.

Calls of senior Cabinet Ministers such as then Telecom Minister, late Pramod Mahajan, and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik were also alleged to be tapped. The phone numbers of promoters of undivided Reliance Group were also "tapped".

The report said Khan has denied that he carried out any illegal surveillance for the company and said that the audio tapes in his possession were given to him by a senior Mumbai Crime Branch officer.

"There was no material on record whether Khan recorded it or the Mumbai Police officer recorded it," the report said.

However, Uppal told SIT that Khan confided in him that Essar CEO Prashant Ruia had ordered phone tapping.

There is no material records of erstwhile Essar Hutchison Telecom to establish when and where tapping took place.

The tapping was allegedly done through BPL (now Loop) Mobile and Hutch servers through cell-to-cell interception.

The phone numbers provided by the complaint and the service providers do not exist anymore.

"There is no material on record to prove that it was legally malafide," the report said.

SIT was formed following a plea by Uppal in the Delhi High Court. When the Centre said that an SIT had been formed, the court disposed of the petition.

THE PHONE TAPPING CASE

• Khan told Delhi police that he had got the transcripts from Mumbai police officer Vijay Salaskar, killed in the 26/11 attacks  
   
• DNA reported on Monday that Delhi police found no corruption or threat to national security in the transcripts