Fugitive diamond jeweller Mehul Choksi, who is wanted by Indian investigative agencies in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, has denied “any truth in the allegations”.

In a statement issued to a Caribbean newspaper ‘Antigua Observer’, Choksi through his attorney David Dorsett said: “I can say categorically, that there is no truth in those allegations.”

On or about July 24, the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) issued a press statement in response to an online story from an Indian media outlet reporting on certain allegations made against Choksi by the Indian authorities and the media.

According to this CIU statement on Wednesday, Choksi was granted citizenship by registration in November 2017 and he swore the Oath of Allegiance in Antigua on January 15, 2018.

The CIU also said that Choksi’s application was granted “after robust due diligence and international investigation by reputable agencies, including the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the CARICOM Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS)”.

The CIU also said that “the 2017 investigation revealed no derogatory information about Choksi”.

The owner of the Gitanjali group firms further said that in January 2018, “I had need to visit the US to receive medical treatment. Having received treatment I am still in a state convalescence.”

“That being the case, I have decided to reside in Antigua and Barbuda, the country of my citizenship, and to abide by the laws of the country,” he said.

His remarks came three days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it had written to the Antiguan authorities seeking details of Choksi’s whereabouts in connection with the PNB fraud case.

On Tuesday it was revealed that Choksi had moved to Antigua from the US several weeks ago using an Antiguan passport.

The revelation came from Antiguan authorities in response to a CBI diffusion notice circulated to foreign countries through Interpol.

The CBI came to know of it last week and shared the information with the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Both the CBI and the ED have been probing the multi-crore fraud allegedly committed between 2011-2017 by Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi.

Choksi also said that “I can, however, state that I lawfully applied to be registered as a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda under the Citizenship by Investment Program.

“During the course of my application I did all that was lawfully required of me to do,” he claimed, adding, “My application for citizenship was in due course approved.”

Choksi also claimed that his application was motivated by his desire to expand his business interest in the Caribbean and to obtain visa free travel access to 130 countries.

“That remains my reason for choosing to become a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.

The red corner notice (RCN) request from the CBI to the Interpol against Choksi is still pending.

Earlier in July, the Interpol issued the RCN against fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, his brother, a Belgian national, Nishal Modi and an executive of his firm Subhash Parab.

Jharkhand Police’s CID has begun investigations into a case involving the sale of several newborns at the Nirmal Hriday home of the Missionaries of Charity here, official sources said on Friday.

The Crime Investigation Department’s Inspector Mohammad Nehal, appointed the Investigating Officer, began the probe on Thursday and took into custody documents and a copy of the FIR from Kotwali police station.

A CID official said after going through the case files, shelter home officials and the couples who “purchased” the babies will be questioned.

The racket in the sale of infants at the Ranchi shelter home came to light on July 3, with reports of the sale of at least six children to childless couples in the past one year. A police case was registered on July 4.

The Missionaries of Charity is a philanthropic organization founded by Mother Teresa.

The FIR said that a child born to an unwed girl staying in the home was sold to a couple from Uttar Pradesh. Two sisters of Nirmal Hriday, Konsilia and Meridian, were questioned in the case and police claimed they “confessed” to their crime.

Sister Konsilia and a staffer of Missionaries of Charity were arrested and four children recovered, based on their information.

The Missionaries of Charity claimed implication in a false case.

A 19-year-old Bachelor of Science student from Kochi was trolled on social media for selling fish after college hours. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday directed the state police to register a case against the cyber bullies.

Hanan Hamid, a final year graduate studying Chemistry in a college near Kochi had attracted attention after it came to light that she was eking out a livelihood by selling fish and also doing odd jobs as a junior artiste in films.

She did all this to take care of her ailing mother, who is separated from her husband.

After the vernacular media highlighted her travails, the cyber bullies trolled Hamid for faking it as they spotted her with celebrities like superstar Mohanlal.

They even went a step further suggesting that she was doing all that just to land a role with Mohanlal’s son Pranav Mohanlal.

There was no respite in bullying despite her passionate pleas that she was “not a fake and a genuine hardworking girl.”
It was only after TV channels reported her travails that on Friday Kerala State Women’s Commission chairperson M.C. Josephine took suo motto cognizance and registered a case against these bullies.

The Commission also asked state police chief Loknath Behra for a report.

Vijayan wrote on his Facebook page on Friday that entire Kerala is with Hamid as she is the “epitome of dedication, commitment and hardwork”.

“The social media is a double-edged sword and Hanan need not look back , and she can go forward strongly as Kerala will be always with her,” the Chief Minister wrote.

It was soon after Vijayan’s post, that the direction came from his office to the police to see that a case be registered against all the “bullies” and also directed Ernakulam District Collector to see that she is given all the support.

Former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan also came out in support of Hamid and said that it was most unfortunate that a section in the social media is making life miserable for someone like her, “who at this young age is shouldering several responsibilities and has become a role model”.

“A case should be registered against all those who have verbally abused this girl,” said Achuthanandan.

Two school teachers in West Bengal’s Nadia district have been arrested for their alleged misbehavior with two girl students, police said on Wednesday.

The two teachers were nabbed following complaints from the parents of the two girls that he had behaved indecently with the students in the school premises last week.

One of the teachers had allegedly hugged and proposed marriage to one of the victims. The other teacher had purportedly touched the other victim inappropriately.

Both the teachers were presented before a court at Krishnanagar which sent them to judicial custody for 14 days.

A dance teacher allegedly raped his student for over a year and extorted Rs 2 lakh, threatening to make public a video clip of the rape.

The police said they received a complaint from the father of the girl stating that his daughter (16), a student at Rudra Dance Academy located in Sahibabad, was lured by dance teacher Sumit Ghosh alias Rudra Ghosh and raped by him on the dance academy premises.

The accused then allegedly made a video clip of the crime and threatened to make it public if she resisted. “He extorted Rs 2 lakh from the girl in the last one year. Her studies suffered because of the teacher’s criminal act,” the father said in the complaint.

The police have registered a criminal case against the dance teacher. “We have arrested three persons in the case,” said SSP Vaibhav Krishna.

Mohammed Nalapad, son of Congress MLA NA Haris has publicly apologized for his assault on a youth and said that he will never hurt anybody in future.

Tending to a social occasion in his father’s constituency, Shanthinagara, Nalapad turned emotional and stated, “Before going to jail, I didn’t know anything about the problems of common and poor people. I didn’t think about water shortage. My life was luxurious with no stresses. I confronted water shortage in jail. It helped me to understand the life of common people. I will try my best to help you people in improving civic amenities.”

He said that the days that he spent in jail had shown him a few lessons about the hardships of life. Apologizing to his grandfather and father publicly, Nalapad said, “My grandfather suffered a lot because of me. I caused him so much pain. I will never hurt him again.”

It might be reviewed that the 24-year-old Nalapad was sent to jail after he allegedly assaulted Vidhwath at a pub in Bengaluru. Vidwath endured multiple injuries and is still undergoing treatment.

The incident, however, did not influence his father. Haris won from Shanthinagara constituency in the assembly election.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan today charged the government of failing to curb attacks on Muslims who rear cows and earn their livelihood from the dairy trade.

Khan’s comments come days after a man in Rajasthan’s Alwar district was lynched on suspicion of cow smuggling.

He said a Muslim becomes a victim of lynching for keeping cows. “The government has not been able to stop such violent activities,” Khan said.

In a sarcastic vein, the SP leader said minorities should neither keep cows nor participate in the milk trade.

Khan alleged that the BJP’s politics was based on “falsehood” and its top leaders speak the language of hate.

Five out of 12 people arrested for their alleged involvement in the carcass meat selling racket here were on Wednesday granted bail after the state CID failed to produce a charge sheet in the case, 90 days after their arrest.

Two more accused were earlier granted bail on the same grounds.

“Neither a charge sheet has been filed against any of these accused nor the forensic test report of the seized meat could be submitted to the court yet. So the prosecution today (Wednesday) asked the court to accept the bail plea of the accused persons and grant them conditional bail,” the state counsel said outside the Alipore court here.

Sarafat Hossain, one of the main accused in the carcass meat case and former CPI-M councilor Manik Mukherjee were among those who were given bail during the day, he said.

The CID said it could not file the charge sheet due to the non-availability of certain reports.

“Five out of 10 people who were kept in jail custody in the carcass meat case were given bail today. The charge sheet could not be filed due to the non-availability of evasion reports,” Deputy Inspector General, CID, Nishad Parvez told IANS.

Police had earlier this year, busted a racket involved in processing the flesh of carcasses collected from dumping grounds in Kolkata and adjoining suburbs and selling it to local restaurants and departmental stores. Huge quantity of rotten meat was seized from a city cold storage as part of the investigation.

A dozen people were arrested including the kingpin Biswanath Garai, 52, who also owned the cold storage in north Kolkata’s Narkeldanga.

CID took over the probe into the meat racket in May.

A local court in Visnagar town of North Gujarat sentenced firebrand Patidar leader Hardik Patel and two others to a two-year jail term and slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 in a 2015 rioting case. The court later granted bail to the three.

The case refers to mob violence that resulted in then BJP legislator Rushikesh Patel’s office being vandalized during a rally in 2015, organised for reservation for the Patel (or Patidar) community in government jobs and educational institutions.

Hours after the sentence, Hardik Patel described the BJP rule in Gujarat as “Hitlershahi.” “I am a sinner, if it is a sin to fight for social justice and rights. If those who fight for truth and their rights are rebels, then I am a rebel,” he said in a statement on a social media platform on Wednesday.

“There was not a single witness who saw me where the incident took place. I respect the court’s decision, but I will exercise my right to challenge it,” he told reporters.

“What about action against policemen who unleashed terror on the agitating Patidars and their families after the August 2015 rally? he asked. Patel was referring to the massive police crackdown after a rally on August 25, 2015, which led to the death of 14 Patel community members.

“The BJP might think I would not be able to fight an election (in 2019) if I am in jail for two years, but let them take it that I am not here to fight elections,” he said. “If I get an opportunity, I can contest an election,” he added.

Patel said he would go ahead with his indefinite fast from August 25, the third anniversary of the Patels’ rally, and re-launch his agitation.

Besides Patel, the other two sentenced were Sardar Patel Group leader Laljibhai Patel and A K Patel. There were 14 others in the same case who were booked for rioting, arson, damage to property and unlawful assembly. However, they were let free.

The earlier ban on Hardik Patel from entering Mehsana district where Visnagar is located, however, remains in place.

— IANS
desai/prs/bg

Five Indian nationals were arrested on Wednesday for being in possession of over 3 kg of smuggled gold, worth Rs 14.7 million, at Tribhuvan International Airport here on Wednesday, police said.

Iswar Das, Awatar Singh, Amrit Pal Singh, Harmindar Singh and Rijwan Ansari were arrested for smuggling gold from Bangkok. They were flying on Thai Airways.

According to the police, the accused had concealed the gold in their suitcases’ wheels. “This was an innovative idea to smuggle the gold… It has been seen for the first time,” said Superintendent of Nepal Police Dinesh Raj Mainali.

All the five arrested have been handed over to the airport Customs office for necessary action.

On Saturday also, two Indian nationals were arrested with 2.7 kg of smuggled gold here. They were smuggling gold from Thailand.

“The ultimate market is India,” said a police officer, adding that all the smuggled gold that lands in Kathmandu via Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore or China reaches the Indian market due to the open border.