New Delhi: In a major catch, Ravi Shankaran,
one of the main accused in the infamous Naval War Room leak
case, has been arrested in London and the CBI has sought his
early extradition.
46-year-old Shankaran, close kin of former Naval Chief
Arun Prakash, was arrested by Metropolitan Police in London on
April 21 and the CBI was informed about the same.
"Shankaran has been arrested and we have moved for his
early extradition," CBI Director Ashwini Kumar told PTI today.
A visibly happy Kumar said Shankaran`s arrest was a
major breakthrough in the case and expressed hope that he
would be extradited to India as soon as possible.
CBI officials said once he was deported from the UK, he
would be questioned at length about his involvement in the
case. It is alleged that he had sent crucial classified
information to commercial firms for pecuniary benefits.
The CBI had registered a case on March 20, 2006 against
former IAF Wing Commander Sambhaji Rao Surve, Shankaran,
ex-naval Commanders Vinod Kumar Jha and Vinod Rana, Raj Rani
Jaiswal, Mukesh Bajaj, Wing Commander (retired) S K Kohli,
Kashyap Kumar and Kulbushan Parashar.
The case against these nine persons was registered under
various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and Section
120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Barring Jaiswal, Bajaj and Kashyap Kumar, chargesheets
have been filed against all the others. The CBI has prepared
documents for closing the case against the trio as nothing
could be found against them.
The CBI had earlier in 2006 sought arrest of Shankaran
after he was spotted in Britain. However, he managed to give
slip to the London Police after a UK court issued an arrest
warrant against him.
Shankaran, who has been chargesheeted by the CBI in 2006,
did not return to Britain after the arrest warrant for him was
issued on April 10, 2007.
After trailing him for over four months, the CBI found
him in Sweden. This prompted the agency to send an alert to
the Swedish wing of Interpol for his immediate detention but
he managed to give a slip to the sleuths again.
He had been criss-crossing Europe without a valid
passport as the External Affairs Ministry revoked his travel
document on April one, 2006.
The CBI had on September 12, 2006 attached Shankaran`s
property and bank accounts after he failed to appear before
the agency for questioning. This included his office -- Shanks
Oceanographic Pvt Ltd in Goa -- and accounts with HSBC Bank
of a firm called Besix India, which belonged to him.
The agency conducted raids at his residence and offices
in April 2006 after arresting former naval Commander Kulbushan
Parashar at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on his
arrival from London. A proclamation notice asking Shankaran to
appear before the CBI for questioning was published in The
Times of London on August 11, 2006.
-PTI
