Mehul Choksi is returning to India. After his five-year Caribbean vacation came to a startling halt with his escape from Antigua to Dominica, Choksi is now one flight away from an Indian prison cell. Due to the persistent efforts of the Indian government, federal agencies of India and the country’s diplomatic might, Mehul Choksi faces imminent repatriation to India. After having disappeared from Antigua Tuesday, Choksi was arrested in Dominica after an extensive manhunt was launched to nab him. Interpol had issued a Yellow Notice against him.
Mehul Choksi’s decision to flee Antigua and Barbuda – the citizenship of which the fugitive had bought in 2017, has not gone down well with Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne. Browne said that Choksi made a monumental error by skipping the island. “Dominica has agreed to hand Mehul Choksi over to India. We’ll not accept him back. He made a monumental error by skipping the island. Dominican govt and law enforcement are cooperating with us and we have informed the Indian government to have him repatriated to India,” said Antiguan PM Gaston Browne.
Browne added, “We asked them not to repatriate him to Antigua. He needs to return to India where he can face the criminal charges levelled against him.” On its part, Dominica has conveyed its readiness to pack up and transport Mehul Choksi to India as soon as possible. Choksi does not have the citizenship of Dominica and additionally, he entered its territory illegally. So, Dominica is least interested to provide a safe haven for the Indian fugitive.
Additionally, Dominica is also in favour of India, since under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative, the Narendra Modi-led government had supplied over 1 lakh Covid-19 jabs to the country free of cost.
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Mehul Choksi, 62, was caught when he was allegedly trying to escape to Cuba from Antigua. He reportedly left Antigua and took a boat to neighbouring Dominica. The government of India had initiated the process of their extradition two years ago, in March 2019, when the UK Police arrested Nirav Modi and he was detained for almost two years. Then Indian agencies like CBI and ED spread their arms in the Caribbean region that led to the cancellation of the Antiguan citizenship of Choksi.
The diamantaire, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, is wanted by Indian investigating agencies for swindling ₹ 13,500 crores as loans from state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) using fake documents. Anytime now, Mehul Choksi will be back in India and tried for his criminalities. Nirav Modi, meanwhile, will also be watching the developments unfold very closely since he is next up for being extradited to India soon.
