In a major setback to Indian agencies, the Interpol has taken down from its website the Red Notice against fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, who is wanted in connection with the ₹13,578-crore Punjab National Bank fraud cases.
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The Interpol took the decision following a representation by Mr. Choksi, who has been declared a fugitive by an Indian court, based on its reported finding that there was a possibility that Mr. Choksi’s abduction was done with the purpose of getting him back to India.
In January 2018, Mr. Choksi had left the country along with his close relatives, including his nephew and co-accused Nirav Modi, days before the Central Bureau of Investigation registered the first case related to the scam. It later turned out that he had taken the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017.
In Antigua, Mr. Choksi has been fighting two cases related to his citizenship and India’s request for his extradition to face criminal trial. He has also submitted an affidavit before the High Court there alleging that in May 2021, he was abducted and forcibly taken from Antigua to Dominica in a boat in which there were two men of Indian origin. He was made to speak on a mobile phone with someone who told him to return to India from Dominica or else face serious consequences, as alleged, adding that he was beaten repeatedly. Apart from the duo, three more — including one Hungarian woman — had emerged as suspects, as reported.
Mr. Modi has been languishing in London’s Wandsworth Jail. In November last year, the United Kingdom’s High Court had turned down his appeal against the District Court judgment, based on which the then Secretary of State had on April 15, 2021, ordered his extradition to India. However, the U.K. authorities are yet to give a final clearance. Mr. Modi’s plea for not allowing his extradition on the grounds of his mental health and the “vague and sketchy” assurances from the Government of India about the medical aid to be made available to him in the Mumbai jail was turned down. On August 2021, another U.K. court had permitted him to move an appeal on two grounds, including the issue of mental health.