Commander Ravi Shankaran (RETD) (born 1964) is a decorated ex Indian Naval clearance diving officer who is allegedly now an arms dealer and is the prime accused in a case of military espionage for commercial purposes which has international implications.
Shankaran was a London-based NRI business man and is the only one to have escaped the dragnet of the Income Tax, CBI and Interpol for his role in masterminding now what is known as the Navy War Room Leak Case.
Like many other retired naval officers he then opened a naval-supply and Salvage business, starting a company called Shanks Oceaneering.
[3] In October 2005, DNA magazine reported that some documents were allegedly leaked on a USB pen drive from the Directorate of Naval operations in New Delhi (also called the Navy War Room).
After the leak was exposed, the Navy conducted its in-house investigation, and in December 2005, it sacked three officers, Vijendra Rana of the Marine Commando Force, Vinod Kumar Jha, a navigation and operations specialist and Captain Kashyap Kumar, another navigations and operations specialist, without any trial, who were then arrested and incarcerated behind bars for varying periods.
Officially, the reason given for their dismissal under the rarely used "President's 'Pleasure" clause, was because they had leaked classified information after accepting gratification, and this may affect the "security of the State", but the lack of criminal charges against the three has been very surprising.
Unable to secure Ravi Shankaran's presence for further investigations the CBI cancelled his passport and successfully got Interpol to issue a worldwide Red Corner Notice for his immediate arrest in 2006.
[8] The CBI was also successful in seizing and attaching all properties and assets owned by Ravi Shankaran including his bank accounts and cars in India as well as overseas.
Based on Kulbhushan Parashar's confession that he had met Shankaran in London, the CBI through the Scotland Yard were successful in obtaining a UK arrest warrant from a Judge at the Westminster Court.
[9] In spite of an International Interpol and UK arrest warrant Ravi Shankaran allegedly managed to give the authorities a slip and moved to Europe without valid travel documents.
CBI officials said that they were confident of getting Shankaran extradited to India and termed his "vanishing act" as a temporary phase till the law caught up with him.
In April 2010, four years after the Interpol Red corner notice had been issued against him, Ravi Shankaran gave himself up voluntarily in London.
On 30 December 2011, the London Court has held that there is prima facie answerable case against Shankaran but it also allowed him to refute the same at the next hearing.
[13] According to a British Home Office spokesperson, the Secretary of State on 22 May signed an order for Ravi Shankaran's extradition to India.
In addition, the judges, Lord Brian Leveson and Mr. Justice Blake, ordered the CBI to pay Shankaran Rs.
In a two-page statement sent to India today on 16 April, Shankaran charged CBI with producing false evidence to try and extradite him.