CBI files application for Shankarans extradition

Two months after the main accused in the Navy War Room leak case,Ravi Shankaran (46),was arrested from London by Interpol,the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has finally moved an application for his extradition to India....

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Two months after the main accused in the Navy War Room leak case,Ravi Shankaran (46),was arrested from London by Interpol,the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has finally moved an application for his extradition to India so that the pending case can get some momentum. Shankaran was arrested on April 21 this year. The CBI move has come late as extradition process is going to take several months. In fact,the CBI has been asked to file an affidavit by a Delhi court explaining the delay.

A source in CBI said the application for Shankarans extradition was filed on Saturday. The merits for the extradition would be first examined by a UK court. After his arrest in the UK,Shankaran has already been granted bail there. An Interpol Red Corner notice was issued against him in 2006. In the same year,he was declared a proclaimed offender. The source said he was a big catch as he could give several details about the case.

The Navy War Room leak case made headlines when it was discovered that classified data stored in computers in South Block had been stolen. Shankaran had allegedly passed on vital information to some arms dealers. According to the CBI,as many as 7,000 pages of classified information was leaked out. Shankaran is one of the nine accused in the case.

The agency 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. The CBI had filed chargesheets against six persons while three persons Jaiswal,Bajaj and Kashyap Kumar were let off as nothing was found against them.