WASHINGTON, Feb 1: Two INS workers have been indicted on charges of deliberately destroying thousands of documents that were being processed at the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s California office, it was reported on Friday.

A California newspaper The Orange Country Register identified the two as Dawn Randall, 24, of San Clemente and Leonel Salazar, 34. Both have been charged with conspiracy and five counts of wilfully destroying documents that were filed with the INS.

Randall and Salazar were contract employees working as file room manager and supervisor, respectively.

The types of documents shredded were US and foreign passports, birth and marriage certificates and INS applications and notices.

The shredding, allegedly done to curtail a backlog, stopped on April 4, when INS officials discovered two file room clerks shredding unprocessed documents during the evening shift, officials said.