Fugitive Indian diamantaire Mehul Choksi declared prohibited immigrant by Dominica
This new twist in Mehul Choksi’s case is likely to boost India’s effort to deport him back to the country to face trial in the PNB scam case.
FollowNew Delhi: Fugitive Indian diamantaire and PNB loan fraud scam accused Mehul Choksi has been declared a prohibited immigrant in Dominica. According to media reports, the Dominican government had on Thursday declared Choksi as a “prohibited immigrant” in their country.
This counters the claim of his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal who said last week that Choksi did not enter Dominica illegally and the police there cannot arrest him as he is not a "prohibited immigrant".
An order issued by the Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs, stated, “in accordance to section 5(1)(f) of the Immigration and Passport Act Chapter 18:01 of the 2017 Revised laws of the Commonwealth of Dominica, you, Mr Mehul Chinubhai Choksi, are hereby declared a prohibited immigrant.”
“You are, therefore, not permitted to enter the Commonwealth of Dominica and the Chief of Police has been instructed to take all the necessary actions to have you repatriated,” added the order, dated May 25, 2021, signed by Dominican minister Rayburn Blackmoore.
According to a notice issued by Dominica's ministry of national security and home affairs, Mehul Choksi was declared a prohibited immigrant on May 25. The ministry also directed the police to "remove him from the Commonwealth of Dominica" in keeping with the procedure laid out in Section 5(1) (1) of the Immigration and Passport Act.
The ministry also sent a separate notice to Choksi on the same day, informing the businessman that he is "not permitted to enter Dominica". The notice further said that the police have been instructed "to take all the necessary actions to have you repatriated".
Mehul Choksi had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he has been staying since 2018 as a citizen. He was detained in neighbouring island country Dominica for illegal entry after a possible romantic escapade with his rumoured girlfriend.
Gurjit Bhandal, one of the persons reportedly named in the “abduction” of Mehul Choksi from Antigua and Barbuda on May 23, has denied any link to the case and claimed that he had left the Caribbean island on May 23 morning on a yacht, according to local media reports.
In his complaint to the Antigua police, Choksi has claimed that he was abducted on May 23 evening when he had gone to a place where his “friend” Barbara Jabarica, also a suspect in the case, was staying.
He has named Gurmit Singh, Narendar Singh, Barbara Jabarica and other unidentified persons for his alleged abduction.
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