Case pending, BMW case accused to go abroad

Sanjeev Nanda, son of arms dealer Suresh Nanda and prime accused in BMW hit-and-run case, would soon be flying out of the country as a Delhi court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to release his passport.

The CBI had seized the passports of the father-son duo in a raid at their premises on October 10, 2006. The raid followed registration of a case against Suresh Nanda and others in a defence deal related to the procurement of armoured recovery vehicles.

"Permission to Sanjeev (29) granted on his furnishing an additional security of Rs two lakh with the conditions that he would not tamper with evidence and would submit complete itinerary including his address and place of stay," the court said.

It also allowed Sanjeev's request for retention of the passport after his foreign trip with the condition that he would join the investigation whenever required by the CBI.

In his application before the court, Sanjeev -- a British citizen -- submitted that he wanted to visit Bangkok, Singapore, UAE, the UK and the USA in March and April.

He also claimed that he was not named by the probe agency in the FIR and he had been allowed to travel abroad on several occasions earlier.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on January 24 had asked the CBI to the passport of his father, allegedly involved in kickbacks in the Rs 1,150 crore Barak missile deal.

Sanjeev, grandson of former Navy Chief S M Nanda, is accused of mowing down six people including three policemen while driving his black BMW in an inebriated condition near Lodhi hotel here on January 10, 1999.