News18 Daybreak | PNB Scam Accused Nirav Modi Arrested in London and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For

What to Watch Out For 

PNB scam accused Nirav Modi arrested in London; court refuses bail

Nirav Modi, the main accused in the Rs 13000-crore Punjab National Bank scam, has been arrested in London. The fugitive diamantaire was remanded to custody till March 29 by the Westminster Magistrate’s court on “substantial grounds” that he might fail to surrender if granted bail.

The arrest comes only a week since UK authorities issued a warrant after Modi was tracked down to a three-bedroom flat in the Centre Point tower block of luxury apartments in the West End of London.

Recent Developments: Hours after being picked up by the Police from the metro station in Holborn, Central London, the businessman was produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate court.

Modi, donned in a plain white shirt and trousers, contested the extradition order against him and is said to have even offered the court half-a-million pounds in bail bonds.

But his request was turned down by Judge Maries Mallon who said,” given the high value of amount involved in the allegations, and the access you may have to means of escape.... I have substantial grounds to believe that you may fail to surrender.”

Modi's legal team was headed by Barrister George Hepburne-Scott and his solicitor, Anand Doobay, is the same legal expert hired by former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition proceedings against India in the UK courts.

He said she said: While the BJP leaders immediately hailed Nirav Modi’s arrest as a success of the Modi led government’s “political authorities”, opposition party leaders termed it as mere symbolism ahead of the elections.

BJP leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said,” The arrest of Nirav Modi is an indication of effective work done by investigative agencies, the CBI and the ED, and the political authority with which the Narendra Modi government has sought to nail him.”

The Congress General Secretary of UP East Priyanka Gandhi, however, hit out at the BJP saying, “Ye achievement hai? Jaane kisne diya tha? [Is this an achievement? Who let him go?]”

The party’s senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad questioned the timing of the arrest, “They are bringing him back for the elections, they will send him back after elections.”

Even the West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee chimed in saying, “This is a ploy of the BJP. The credit must go to the London Telegraph journalist who exposed Nirav Modi. It is a got-up match. No credit goes to the BJP government.”

What next: ED sources have said that they expect a "faster" process of extradition in Modi's case, as compared to liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who was extradited last month, as this is an instance of "clear defraud" of bank loan money. They said the ED and the CBI have already sent in "good amount of evidence-based documents" for the courts in UK to peruse.

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