CBI arrests Verma for role in leak
	New Delhi, July 21: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday arrested businessman Abhishek Verma in connection with the Navy War Room leak case for his alleged involvement in the leaking of classified military information. Mr Verma, whose premises were raided on June 23, was summoned to the CBI headquarters here on Friday afternoon for questioning after which he was placed under arrest, CBI sources said. They added that he will be produced before a court on Saturday. Seven people have been arrested in the case, including Mr Verma. Several documents, a computer and other equipment, including Mr Verma’s scanner, had been seized during searches of his premises. After analysing the computer’s hard disk and the memory of the scanner, the CBI decided to summon Mr Verma for custodial interrogation, the sources said. The CBI has alleged that lavish parties, at which defence officials socialised with defence suppliers and agents, were organised by Mr Kulbhushan Parashar, one of the accused, on the directions of Mr Verma."The Atlas Group of Companies hosted parties to which serving defence officials and suppliers/agents were invited, which included foreigners also, which were primarily organised by Kulbhushan Parashar on the direction of Abhishek Verma," the CBI chargesheet reveals. The chargesheet adds that these parties were organised by Mr Parashar with the intention of receiving "critical information illegally". The CBI has revealed in its chargesheet that Mr Verma was "said to be associated with" the Atlas Group of Companies and that Mr Parashar was appointed vice-president (marketing) in one of the group companies, the Canada-based Atlas Defence Systems, after meeting Mr Verma in 2003. Mr Verma is also alleged to be a close associate of Mr Ravi Shankaran, another accused who is related to Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash. A court here has declared Mr Shankaran a proclaimed offender. The CBI, which registered a case in March, has claimed that the probe has revealed that apart from the leak of information from the Navy War Room and Air Defence Directorate, there is, prima facie, a larger ring of "compromised officials" in various wings of the armed forces and defence ministry who were giving sensitive information in exchange for gratification. The agency had registered a case on the basis of information from the defence ministry that three Navy officers and an Air Force officer had "acted in collusion with private persons and retired military officers to conspire to unauthorisedly procure classified documents or information relating to the ministry, the disclosure of which is likely to affect the sovereignty and integrity of the country". The defence ministry had asked the CBI on February 18 to probe the leak from Naval Headquarters. Apart from Mr Parashar, the CBI had earlier arrested former Indian Air Force official Sambhajee L. Surve, Raj Rani Jaiswal, a woman allegedly used as a honeytrap, businessman Mukesh Bajaj, former Navy officer V.K. Jha and sacked Navy commander Vinod Rana. While four persons were chargesheeted by the CBI, Jaiswal and Bajaj were set free on bail after the agency failed to file a chargesheet against them within the stipulated 90 days. The case was registered under various sections of the Official Secrets Act and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.