Ranchi, Sept. 16: An employee of Adani Power (Jharkhand), arrested for hacking his boss's email and sent to Birsa jail today, is suspected to have leaked confidential information about the company, which has power and coal projects in Jharkhand, to political parties and rival companies.
Pankaj Pathak, the Adani Power (Jharkhand) employee, confessed to hacking email and social media accounts of associate vice-president (corporate affairs and admin) Rajiv Kumar, but denied corporate espionage. Pathak was Kumar's personal assistant since October 2015.
Kumar resigned a month ago when the company's top bosses expressed ire over crucial information leaks from the Ranchi office on plans to buy/ acquire land for power plants at Godda and Palamau, the company's negotiation with the state over fixed and variable power prices and others.
Adani Power is in the process of setting up a 1,600MW thermal power plant in Godda. In Palamau, the company has planned a 1,000MW solar power plant and looking for 2,200 acres to set it up.
Produced before the court of N.K. Vishwakarma today, Pathak, a Gaya man, who earlier worked as the private assistant of the chief editor of a vernacular newspaper in Jharkhand, was sent to Birsa jail on judicial custody.
"Pathak accepted hacking Kumar's mail and social media accounts. But, he claimed he only wanted to see whether his boss was giving him bad appraisals to company headquarters. It is a matter of investigation whether Pathak sold classified information," said city DSP Shambhu Singh.
"I am victim of corporate conspiracy but I will come clean," Pathak told this correspondent at Lalpur thana today.
But, an official of Adani Power in Jharkhand said the matter was not so simple.
"There are strong doubts that Pathak leaked sensitive data. I remember the Opposition had raised questions over Godda district administration and the state giving our company undue benefits in land purchase. Some political parties had classified information which only a few top corporate officials knew. Pathak handled communications on Kumar's behalf and was privy to confidential information. We had a dispute with the state over supply of 25 per cent electricity to the government from the proposed Godda plant. We had opposed giving 6 paisa per unit to state as environment cess. Those opposing us knew precise details. Our Palamau project suffered as our business rivals laid hands on our documents," the Adani official said.
JVM MLA Pradeep Kumar Yadav was the one who had attacked the state and Adanis over the Godda power project.
"I am shocked Pathak hacked my mail as it had sensitive information," Kumar said.
On August 27, Kumar told Lalpur police his private mail account, which he used for official purposes too, was hacked. On September 7, Kumar lodged another FIR that his social media account was hacked. Cyber police revealed the mail account was hacked from a computer in his office. Cyber cops extracted mobile number 7870793039 that was used to hack Kumar's social media account, the location details - Adani Power office during day and Gautam Green City, Booty More, during night - pointing to Pathak.
