Dominican authorities have ‘discontinued the procedures against Mehul Choksi’ for illegally entering the island nation. Mehul Choksi, a fugitive diamantaire, had opposed the case, saying that he was kidnapped from Antigua and Barbuda and transferred to Dominica without his will. Choksi went missing in May from Antigua. He had gone in 2018 to evade prosecution in India for defrauding the Punjab National Bank in collusion with his nephew, Nirav Modi.
Authorities tracked him down to the Dominican Islands, which are more than 900 kilometres distant, and detained him on May 26 for allegedly entering the nation ‘illegally’ from Antigua and Barbuda. Mehul Choksi stated in a complaint to Antigua Police that he was an Antiguan citizen who was forcibly transferred to Dominica, including by operatives from the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). His legal team claims four people were involved in the purported kidnapping. The Indian authorities, who had asked Dominica to hand him up, never validated his assertions.
Mehul Choksi recognized the images of Gurmit Singh and Gurjit Bhandal, two individuals he said were RAW agents, in an interview with India Today TV. He also named Barbara Jarabica, a close friend from whose home he was reportedly taken. ‘I had assumed they (Gurmit Singh and Gurjit Bhandal) were RAW spies. Even before I arrived in Dominica, I had heard rumors of RAW agents and their presence on many islands and locations throughout the world. They claimed to be RAW agents and that they were transporting me for questioning. They were rough on me and banged me up here and there’, Mehul Choksi said.
Choksi said he went to Barbara Jarabica’s residence on May 23 to pick her up for dinner. I drove her home in my vehicle. I went to her house, and she welcomed me inside. There was nothing wrong with me. I drove up to her house and walked inside. She drank a glass of wine. She forced me to sit on the sofa, and within four minutes, a crowd poured in from both sides.’
They said we know who you are and are transporting you for questioning. Two of them grabbed my wrists, two grabbed my legs, and I was completely overpowered’, Mehul Choksi explained. He further said that since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he has been hearing rumours concerning his kidnapping. ‘ I was warned a jet was coming, and several individuals stated they were monitoring you and were going to take you out and murder you,’ he alleged. ‘ When the (Covid-19) immunizations arrived (from India to Antigua), they told me it was in exchange for me. I could easily think it was a plan,’ Mehul Choksi claimed.
Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi are sought in India for allegedly stealing Rs 13,500 crore from the state-run PNB using forged letters of undertaking. In Antigua, India is pursuing a judicial battle to get custody of the businessman. At the request of Indian investigating authorities, a Red Corner Notice was issued against the fugitive. The notice is a request to law enforcement throughout the world to identify and temporarily detain a person pending extradition, surrender, or other legal action. It is effectively a global arrest warrant and the first step in the extradition procedure.
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