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Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s name is involved in the Epstein files controversy. Newly released documents reveal some of her emails with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After that, the commotion died down. The question is why was the Union Minister of Petroleum in contact with the sex offender?

The US Department of Justice released several documents and emails to Epstein on January 30. This is where the name of Hardeep came up. According to the published documents, from June 2014 to 2017 i.e. for about three years, the Union Petroleum Minister was in contact with the sex offender. But what’s in the emails? It is reported that Hardeep and Jeffrey Epstein discussed the meeting schedule, business opportunities in India, etc. between the two parties. However, Hardeep was not directly linked to any criminal activities. Incidentally, the published Epstein documents refer to a period when Hardeep was not holding any public office. He was working in a company in New York. Hardeep joined the BJP in 2014 and was inducted into Narendra Modi’s cabinet in September 2017.

When Hardeep was contacted by an all-India media, he admitted meeting Epstein. But he said, “The meetings were very limited and work-. There were only three meetings in eight years in New York. I was working at the International Peace Institute during that time.” He also stated that he was not aware of Epstein’s criminal past.

Notably, Epstein committed suicide in jail in 2019 after being convicted. His ex-lover and partner Maxwell is still in jail. He was also convicted of child trafficking and Epstein’s sex crimes. US President Donald Trump is named in the Epstein file. Not only that, the Epstein scandal has also implicated many prominent people in the recent past.