Mehul Choksi could be back in India in the next 48 hours: Report
The Indian government has been informed that Mehul Choksi could be repatriated to India from Dominica.
FollowFugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who was taken into custody by authorities of Dominica after going missing from Antigua and Barbados on Monday, could be brought to India in the next 48 hours.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne told media persons that the Dominican government and law enforcement are cooperating and that the Indian government had been informed that Choksi could be repatriated to India.
Denying that Choksi could somehow find a way to block his repatriation, Browne said that he was unaware of whether Choksi had any constitutional protection through Dominican citizenship.
Antiguan authorities claim that Choksi tried to flee using a boat. But because there was an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him, he was detected and taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department of Dominica.
Speaking to television news channel WION, Prime Minister Browne said, "Assuming no legal impediments, within the next 48 hours Choksi could be perhaps on a private jet, repatriated to India."
Browne said that he had reached out to his Dominica counterpart Roosevelt Skerrit and urged Choksi for entering their country illegally and to make him persona non grata and have him deported directly to India.
Choksi is being sought by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate in the investigation into the defrauding of public-sector Punjab National Bank to the tune of almost Rs 13,600 crore.
Choksi fled India on January 7, 2018, and became a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda on January 15. He had applied for citizenship in November 2017 under the island nation's Citizenship by Investment programme.
