- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shilpa Sharma
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA police have begun investigations into the alleged kidnapping of the fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi to neighbouring Dominica following a complaint filed by his lawyers, prime minister Gaston Browne said.
Browne told reporters that Choksi’s lawyers gave the names of people involved in the alleged abduction to the police commissioner in a complaint.
“Choksi has filed a complaint with the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda to the extent that he was abducted. He made a formal claim through his attorneys that he was abducted from Antigua and taken to Dominica so it is a report that police is taking seriously and they are currently investigating the abduction,” Browne said.
Separately, a report by the Associates Times poked holes in the theory of Dominica opposition leader Lennox Linton, who had reportedly claimed that Choksi was brought to Dominica in the Yacht Calliope of Arne around 10 pm on May 23.
Citing customs documents, the report said the boat had left Antigua at 10 am on May 23, whereas Choksi’s domestic staff said he was home till 5 pm, which indicates that Choksi did not travel by the boat as Linton claimed.
Choksi mysteriously went missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been staying since 2018 as a citizen. His lawyers alleged that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen looking like they were from Antiguan and India and brought to Dominica on a boat.
He was arrested in Dominica on May 23 for illegal entry into the country and was denied bail by a magistrate court during a hearing on Wednesday (2).
Choksi is wanted in a £1.32 billion loan fraud case relating to Punjab National Bank (PNB) in India.
Choksi is one of the main defendants in the loan fraud case related to the PNB, while his nephew Nirav Modi – also wanted in the case – is currently lodged in a London jail. Modi is contesting his extradition to India after repeated denial of his bail by courts.
