Nirav Modi located in UK, British authorities inform India: Government

The government has said that British authorities have informed that bank fraud fugitive Nirav Modi is living in the UK. Replying to a question on Nirav Modi in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh that the National Central Bureau of Manchester informed India that their investigations have led to the location of Nirav Modi in the UK, reported news agency PTI.

“In August 2018, the government sent two requests, one from the CBI and the other from the Enforcement Directorate, to the authorities of the UK seeking the extradition of Nirav Modi to India,” Singh further told Rajya Sabha, adding that the requests are currently under consideration.

Earlier this month, the Congress party had cited a report of the Income Tax department to allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had prior information about Nirav Modi’s plan to flee India.

Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said, “Information that Nirav Modi is about to flee the country after fraud of Rs 23,000 crore was there with Modi government through I-T Dept report eight months before Nirav Modi ran away. If Modi ji and Jaitley ji knew about Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, then how did they run away?”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had also targeted Jaitley over the issue. Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the Congress chief had said, “8 months before they were allowed to flee, the IT dept. wrote a 10,000 pg report on Chota Modi & Choksi’s massive fraud. Govt had evidence to arrest them. But didn’t because FM Jaitlie’s daughter was hired as Choksi’s lawyer. FM Jaitlie must resign immediately.”

Nirav Modi has been absconding since the alleged Punjan National Bank fraud, by far the highest in the country in terms of value, came to light early this year and an Interpol arrest warrant was recently notified against him even as India is working to get him extradited from the United Kingdom, where he was last reported to have been based.

ED has also filed a charge sheet against him alleging that he laundered and diverted over Rs 6,400 crore of bank funds abroad to dummy companies that were under his and his families' control.