Arms dealer Nanda's bail plea rejected

New Delhi, Apr 5: A Delhi court today rejected the bail plea of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, his son Sanjeev Nanda and others, in a case of manipulating evidence on alleged kickbacks received by him in defence deals.

Rejecting the plea, Additional Sessions Judge IK Kochar said, "Investigations are at an initial stage and releasing reports at this point of time may hamper the probe."

Suresh Nanda, Sanjeev Nanda, who is an accused in the BMW hit-and-run case, chartered accountant Bipin Shah and Deputy Director of Income Tax Ashutosh Verma were arrested in Mumbai on March 8.

The arrests, made from a well-known hotel in Mumbai where the four people had assembled for discussion and negotiation as part of the conspiracy, came a day after the CBI had conducted raids on Suresh Nanda, and the premises of his associates.

They have been accused of manipulating their IT assessments to obscure any financial link to the kickbacks allegedly paid to them in the Barak Missile deal.

The four involved in the scam have been charged under section 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy.

The External Affairs Ministry had earlier suspended Suresh Nanda's passport on the CBI's request.

Suresh Nanda, the son of the former Navy Chief, Admiral S.M. Nanda, is alleged to have received over 450 crore rupees in kickbacks.

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes and the then Naval Chief Admiral Susheel Kumar have also been accused for their role in the Rs 1,150 crore Barak missile deal.

Nanda is also an accused in a case involving the purchase of Armoured Recovery Vehicles.

ANI