Mehul Choksi case: Fugitive Diamantaire lands in Antigua and Barbuda after getting bail in Dominica

As per local media reports, fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has landed in Antigua and Barbuda after 51 days of custody in neighbouring Dominica for illegal entry.

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New Delhi: After 51 days of custody in neighbouring Dominica for illegal entry, which Mehul Choksi’s lawyers claim was a kidnapping plan, the fugitive diamantaire has landed in Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been staying since 2018 after leaving India. As per local media reports, the Dominica court on Monday (July 12) granted bail to the absconding businessman and allowed him to travel back to Antigua for his medical treatment. 

The court has asked Choksi to deposit Eastern Caribbean dollars 10,000 as surety for the bail, Antigua News Room reported.

The reports also revealed that while seeking bail from the court, the absconding businessman attached his medical reports, including a CT scan, which showed "mildly worsening hematoma".

In the medical reports, doctors recommend an urgent review of Choksi’s medical condition by a neurologist and a neurosurgical consultant.

"The services are not currently available on the island (Dominica). All courtesies extended to him would be greatly appreciated," the CT scan report dated June 29 signed by Doctors Yerandy Galle Gutierrez and Rene Gilbert Veranes of Princess Margaret Hospital of Dominica said.

Meanwhile, Mehul Choksi is wanted in a Rs 13,500 crore PNB fraud case in India and had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been staying as a citizen since 2018.

He was detained in the neighbouring island country of Dominica for illegal entry, after a possible romantic escapade with his rumored girlfriend.

Choksi's lawyers alleged that he was abducted from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen looking like Antiguan and Indian, and brought to Dominica on a boat.

(With PTI inputs)