CBI questions arms dealer Suresh Nanda

A day after his passport was revoked temporarily by the Centre, CBI on Thursday questions arms dealer Suresh Nanda.

A day after his passport was revoked temporarily by the Centre, CBI on Thursday questioned arms dealer Suresh Nanda, son of former Naval Chief Admiral SM Nanda, in connection with the alleged kickbacks received in the Barak missile deal.

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Nanda, who had challenged impounding of his passport by the CBI in Supreme Court, was summoned to CBI headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday morning to explain foreign remittances to the tune of Rs 400 crore allegedly transferred into his bank accounts. The remittances, the agency claimed, was a kickback from the Barak missile deal, sources said.

The External Affairs Ministry issued an order on Wednesday evening suspending his passport for four weeks following the CBI application for revoking this travel document.

The CBI has alleged that an amount Rs 543.33 crore from various sources abroad went into his bank accounts between 1995 and 2001.

The CBI probe into Nanda's dealings gathered momentum after the Interpol told the agency that Rs 400 crore was deposited in Nanda's bank account after the Barak missile deal was signed between the Defence Ministry and an Israeli firm.

The CBI alleged that a five-star hotel in the national capital may have been purchased by Nandas with kickback money he allegedly received for brokering a Rs 1,100 crore deal between an Israeli company and India.

The money may also have been allegedly used to purchase a hotel in Mumbai and land for Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Maharashtra, sources said.

The CBI alleged Nanda had shown himself as a British national in Media-Asia Europe firm in the UK, a charge denied by Nanda.