London:
Proceedings to extradite one of the main accused in the infamous Naval war room leak case, Ravi Shankaran, have begun in London.
Ravi, who fled India and had an Interpol notice against him, was arrested in London in April. He is accused of accessing classified and sensitive information from the India navy and selling that to companies bidding for naval contracts worth billions of dollars, damaging the security and integrity of the country.
His lawyer claimed Ravi Shankaran was not arrested, he chose to go to the police himself.
"He voluntarily went to the police... want to correct some facts about him. He is free and has no armed guards as you can see," said Solicitor Henri Brandman.
A well attired Ravi Shankaran seemed nervous at the beginning but then smiled and laughed a fair bit during the hearing. The hearing lasted nearly three hours as the prosecution outline the alleged fraud and lies he and his accomplices perpetrated.
The next hearing is on September 1 but the extradition could take months.
The prosecution talked about how Ravi had used inducements including a honey trap to obtain classified information from the Indian Navy and sold that to companies bidding in tenders for naval equipment contracts worth billions of dollars.
Shankaran is on bail in London and has hired one of Britain's top lawyers to resist extradition.