The mystery of Choksi, Indian tycoon kidnapped in 1.8 billion scam

Fugitive jewellery magnate Mehul Choksi has accused India of orchestrating his abduction from Antigua in 2021. The international 'yellow' has landed in court in London.

Choksi stated before the British courts that New Delhi had both the 'motivation and the resources' to carry out the operation. The billionaire is wanted in India in connection with the $1.8 billion fraud against the Punjab National Bank (PNB) and has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government in the High Court in London, claiming he was forcibly taken from Antigua to Dominica in an attempt at extrajudicial extradition. He had been arrested in April.

Since then, the Indian government has sought to extradite Choksi, who is accused along with his nephew Nirav Modi, who has been detained in Britain since 2019. Both deny any wrongdoing in the fraud scandal. In court documents, Indian lawyer Harish Salve dismissed the charges, saying that "there was no evidence that India had any involvement in the alleged events". However, Choksi claims that he was beaten in a failed attempt to extract a false confession and implicate the Indian political opposition, which he says indicates state involvement in the incident.

Choksi's lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, told the court: 'The evidence inevitably points to India being behind this: they had the motivation, they had the resources'. Monday's hearing, the first since Choksi presented his case last year, was held to decide when to grant India's request to dismiss Choksi's case on state immunity, Reuters news agency reported.