Ravi Shankaran

rdf:langString Ravi Shankaran

rdf:langString Lt. 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 . He is the prime accused in the "Naval war room spy scandal", which is linked to the Scorpene deal scam. In this case, a number of documents stolen from the Navy war room were leaked to Thales, the maker of Scorpène-class submarine enabling them to clinch a Euro 3 Billion Submarine Deal with the Indian Navy. Shankaran is a retired naval officer of the 67th NDA Course whose parents lived in Pune and took early retirement from the Indian Navy for Medical Reasons. While in the Navy he moonlighted in commercial diving, and was a regular on the Mumbai party scene, being particularly popular amongst affluent women. Like many other retired naval officers he then opened a naval-supply and Salvage business, starting a company called Shanks Oceaneering. The business was soon doing well and Shankaran became well known for his party lifestyle; becoming known by his preferred nickname, Shanx.