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Indians indicted

Washington: An Indian heading a U.S. electronics supplier and three of his compatriots employed in the firm have been indicted for allegedly exporting sensitive U.S. missile technology to India in violation of laws.

The indictments that were unsealed on Monday also alleged conspiracy by unnamed Indian government officials in circumvention of U.S. export control law.

The indictment slapped charges against the Parthasarathy Sudarshan-led electronics firm, Cirrus Inc., operating in Singapore, South Carolina and Bangalore, of working as an agent of the Indian government to obtain sensitive missile and weapons technology for its military programmes. Four of the company officials - all of them Indians, including founder Sudarshan, were charged.

Sudarshan, who was arrested on March 23, is still in custody and has been brought to Washington D.C. for his arraignment before a District Court Judge. Mythili Gopal, the company's international sales manager, was also arrested in South Carolina on March 23, but was released after her court appearance.

Two others were indicted and have not been arrested. They have been identified as A.K.N. Prasad, the head of Indian operations for Cirrus at its office in Bangalore, and Sampath Sundar, the company's operations director who worked out of Singapore.

The indictment also has a number of unidentified co-conspirators, including an official of the Indian mission in Washington. It indicates that the defendants were buying equipment for three Indian government agencies — the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Bharat Dynamics Ltd and the Aeronautical Development Establishment.

The indictment details the alleged transactions said to have taken place between 2003 and 2006. — PTI

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