Saturday, April 8 2006 12:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Aditya Khanna, whose name cropped up during investigations into the food-for-oil scam, has returned to the United Kingdom leaving Enforcement Directorate red faced as it wanted his passport to be revoked.

A kin of former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, Khanna had earlier appeared before the probe agency after investigators found that funds to Indian beneficiaries had been allegedly diverted from his London bank account in the food-for-oil scam.

A spokesperson for Khanna said he had returned to London, where he is based and would make himself available as and when the Enforcement Directorate wanted him to.

"Aditya Khanna was questioned by the ED last month. We would like to clarify here that Khanna, who is an NRI, came to Delhi voluntarily. He is very keen to participate in any pending enquiry, as he is anxious to clear his name in the ongoing controversy," the spokesperson added.

Khanna, who is the brother of Congress MLA from Sangrur Arvind Khanna, is alleged to have received the payments from Masefields, the company which got contracts in the scam. The funds were transferred to Indian beneficiaries, the ED alleged.

ED had sought revocation of the passport on the basis of progress made in its probe into the dealings of Indians with the ousted Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq in the oil-for-food programme under the aegis of the UN between 1996 and 2003.

The Enforcement Directorate investigating the Indian angle of the scam, as brought out by Volcker Committee, has questioned several people including Natwar, Jagat Singh, Andaleep Sehgal, Director of Hamdan Exports and Aneil Matherani, India's former envoy to Croatia, several times as part of their investigations.