Mumbai: Investigations into the naval war room leak case took a new turn on Friday with the CBI moving the External Affairs Ministry for revoking the passport of Ravi Shankaran, a kin of Navy Chief Arun Prakash, in a bid to pave the way for his deportation from London.
Shankaran is wanted by the CBI for questioning and the agency has also moved for issuance of a non-bailable arrest warrant against him from the designated court, CBI sources said.
The CBI moved the External Affairs Ministry and the court after Shankaran did not appear before it despite several notices served at his office and residence in Mumbai seeking his appearance for questioning in the case.
Once the passport is revoked, the CBI would also move for issuance of an Interpol Red Corner notice against him so that he could be nabbed anywhere.
Shankaran's office - Shanks Oceangraphic Private Limited - in Mumbai and the office of Jeniffer Mirza, who was allegedly heading his front organistion in Goa, was raided by CBI during which certain documents were recovered.
Former Naval Commander Kulbushan Parashar, already arrested by the CBI, had told the investigators that he had met Shankaran in London. Parashar was arrested by the CBI on April 6 when he returned from the UK.
In a related development, the CBI, along with defence experts, analysed another pendrive, handed over by the naval officers at its Hyderabad-based laboratory to ascertain whether any material had been deleted from it and the nature of documents that had been copied on it.
CBI sources have alleged that a retired Wing Commander of the IAF Sambhaji R Surve had been instrumental in leaking several documents from the navy war room when he was on deputation there.
Surve's financial transactions were also being scrutinzed by the CBI after his all bank accounts had been fronzen.
The bank accounts of Shankaran had also been frozen by the investigating agency.
The CBI had registered a case on March 20 against Surve, Shankaran, ex-Commanders of Navy Vinod Kumar Jha and Vinod Rana, Raj Rani Jaiswal, who allegedly acted as a honey trap for the defence personnel, Mukesh Bajaj, Wing Cdr (retd) S K Kohli, Kashyap Kumar and former Naval commander Kulbushan
Parashar.
While Surve, Jha, Rana, Parashar, Jaiswal and Bajaj had been arrested by the CBI, Kohli and Parashar had joined the investigation and were cooperating with the probe agency in the case.
The case against all the nine persons has been registered under various sections of Official Secrets Act and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
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