Nirav Modi in Hong Kong? Government sends request for provisional arrest

The Ministry of External Affairs has submitted a request to Hong Kong authorities for the provisional arrest of Nirav Modi, wanted in connection with the Rs. 13,000 crore PNB loan fraud, the government said Thursday.

"The Ministry has sought the provisional arrest of Nirav Deepak Modi by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China, for which a request has been submitted to them on March 23, 2018," V K Singh, the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

His response came after a question in the Rajya Sabha asking about Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi's whereabouts.

A provisional arrest is made pending a formal extradition request.

Singh said the MEA had suspended passports of the two diamond merchants after the CBI registered an FIR against the two in February.

Modi and Choksi had fled the country after the alleged bank fraud came to light.

MEA had served show cause notices to them on February 16, giving them a week to respond.

"Since they failed to respond within the stipulated time period, their passports were revoked on February 23, 2018," he said.

PTI