Beijing: A Chinese state-run daily on Thursday
alleged that the Indian diplomat, who had collapsed in a court
last Saturday, had tried to "secretly" take away two detained
Indian nationals under the "pretence of going to the toilet".
Reports that Indian diplomat, S Balachandran from
Consulate in Shanghai fainted after being denied food and
medicines and manhandled were "wrong", a report in the Global
Times website said.
"The reports distorted the facts, and no injuries actually
happened", it quoted an official with the local Yiwu
government as saying.
The two Indians Shaymsunder Agrawal and Deepak Raheja
refused to pay more than 10 million yuan (USD 1.59 million)
for goods they had received, the official said.
They were kidnapped on December 15 by Chinese traders at
Yiwu.
"During the interval at the hearing, the diplomat planned
to take away the two Indians secretly under the pretence of
going to the toilet.
"But they were stopped by suppliers at the court's exit,"
the report said.
When the officials arrived, they found the diplomat
sitting on the ground and claiming that he had been beaten.
But physical checks afterwards showed no signs of a
beating, the Times report said quoting sources.
Yesterday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Hong Lei
had refuted reports that the diplomat was denied access to
food and water in the court.
"The reports did not tally with the facts," he had told a
media briefing.
Both Agrawal and Raheja have been taken out of the hotel
in Yiwu by Indian officials with the help of Chinese police
and are currently lodged at a hotel in Shanghai.
Lou Zhongping, chairman of the Household Articles Chamber
of Commerce with the China Commodity City of Yiwu, said scams
involving not paying for goods after they are received are not
rare.
"Many suppliers are cautious about that and are discussing
measures to prevent and punish those swindlers," Lou told the
Global Times.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 05, 2012, 16:50