Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi arrested in London on India’s extradition request

Fugitive Indian diamantaire Nirav Modi was arrested in London on Wednesday on India’s extradition request. He will be produced in a London court later today.

Fugitive Indian diamantaire Nirav Modi was arrested in London on Wednesday on India’s extradition request. He will be produced in a London court later today.

Yesterday, a top court in the UK issued a warrant to arrest Nirav Modi, days after British home secretary Sajid Javid certified India’s request to extradite him to face charges of financial irregularities in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.

Also read:Nirav Modi’s asylum bid may delay extradition process

Nirav Modi’s arrest by the Scotland Yard triggered the first stage of the legal process for extradition. Javid’s certification was sent to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court last week.

Issuing of the arrest warrant implies that the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the conduct described in the request is an extradition offence, which includes the requirement for dual criminality.

In the case of businessman Vijay Mallya, whose extradition case is now in the appeals court, India sent the request towards the end 2016. It was certified by the home secretary on February 21, 2017. Mallya was arrested and bailed two months later on April 18, 2017, when his extradition hearings began.

Nirav Modi, whose presence in the UK was confirmed by British authorities in mid-2018, recently figured in a video released by The Daily Telegraph, walking on London streets and responding to queries by its reporters with “No comment.”

He was tracked down to a three-bedroom flat occupying half of a floor in an upscale tower block of luxury apartments, where rent is estimated to be around £17,000 a month, the newspaper reported.

Describing him as a “billionaire diamond tycoon who is India’s most wanted”, the report quoted unnamed government sources saying that he has been given a national insurance number, which is required to work legally in the UK.

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