New Delhi: Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Indian-born fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi and demands for his extradition, his wife Priti Choksi on Wednesday (June 2) said the woman who is rumoured to be his girlfriend is known to her husband and to his other acquaintances. 


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"The woman was known to my husband and to his other acquaintances. She walked with my husband periodically when she was visiting Antigua. From what I have understood from people who have met her, the woman shown on media channels is not the same woman that they knew as Barbara," Priti Choksi told ANI. 


These remarks from Mehul Choksi's wife came after Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne stated last week that Choksi may have taken his girlfriend on a romantic trip to Dominica, where he was busted.


On the reports that fugitive diamantaire was tortured in Dominica, Priti said, "What has brought most anguish to the family is the physical torture and total disregard for the human rights of my husband. If someone really wanted him back alive, why did they need to torture and abuse him physically and mentally? My husband has many health issues."


On the question of Mehul Choki's deportation, his wife said, "He is 63-year-old and he is an Antiguan citizen. He enjoys all the rights and protection that the Antigua and Barbuda constitution gives him. I have full faith in the rule of law and the justice system of the Caribbean nations. We await his safe and rightful return to Antigua at the earliest."


Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. Choksi fled the country was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018.


Meanwhile, a team from India has arrived in Dominica, ahead of a Caribbean court hearing that will decide on whether fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi will be deported to India. 


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