The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday evening confirmed the arrest of naval war room leak-accused and former Indian Navy officer Lt. Ravi Shankaran (Retd) in London. Sources said the Indian government has initiated the process of extradition of Shankaran to India to face trial. Shankaran, who was evading arrest till
now, was earlier charge-sheeted in the case by the CBI. The naval war room leak, uncovered in 2005, involved alleged illegal trade-off of classified documents relating to defence acquisitions by persons including former navy and IAF officers for private firms dealing with defence supplies. Five persons including Shankaran were initially charge-sheeted by the CBI in the case. Shankaran is a relative of former Naval Chief Admiral (retd.) Arun Prakash. The CBI is hailing Shankaran’s arrest as a major breakthrough in the case.
The CBI’s investigations a few years ago had showed that defence leaks had taken place including details of a top secret Naval project titled the Network Centric Operation (NCO).