Congress cites escape of Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, demands seizure of Gautam Adani's passport
Mumbai, Feb 6: The Congress on Monday demanded the Centre seize the passport of Gautam Adani, who is battling allegations of stock manipulation, to prevent him from escaping the country as the opposition party held protests against Adani outside offices of LIC and SBI.
A Mumbai Congress leader said businessmen Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi could escape the country because the BJP government didn't confiscate their passports in time.
The Congress staged demonstrations outside the offices of the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Life Insurance Corporation as part of the party's nationwide protests over the Adani issue.
"The Centre should confiscate the passport of Gautam Adani so that he would not be able to escape the country. When scams by Harshad Mehta or Ketan Paresh were unearthed, the then Union government led by Congress had confiscated their passports preventing Mehta and Parekh from flying out of India," Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap told reporters.
He said industrialists Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, who are facing allegations of loan default and banking fraud, managed to run away from the country because their passports were not seized by the BJP government in time.
Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after the US short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations last fortnight in its report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group, which has denied the charges.
The Congress party has organised nationwide agitations outside the offices of SBI and LIC claiming both the public sector institutions were forced by the government to increase their exposure in various Adani group companies.
"Today, we protested outside the offices of SBI and LIC in Mumbai. We will hold similar protests outside the offices of the Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India in the next 15 days," Jagtap added.
Similar protests were held in Pune.
Speaking on the occasion, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole cited the Hindenburg Research report to say Rahul Gandhi stands vindicated "as it is proved that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running the government for a handful of industrialists".
"Our leader Rahul Gandhi has been talking constantly that the Prime Minister is running this government for his friends and a handful of industrialists. Rahul proved right as per the Hindenburg report," he said.
Patole alleged the Adani Group obtained loans from LIC and other banks by furnishing bogus documents.
"Today, the common people (who have their money invested into LIC) are scared about the future of their investment," the Congress leader said and demanded PM Modi give a full "hisab" or account of (the LIC's investment exposure to Adani group) to the people.
"Narendra Modi is shielding his friends which means the work of siphoning off the money of common people is going on," he alleged.
Besides Patole, former chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Sushilkumar Shinde, and other local leaders were present during the protests.
The Congress has stepped up the offensive against the government over the Adani-Hindenburg issue and is seeking a discussion in Parliament.
The party has also demanded an impartial investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court or a joint parliamentary committee to probe the charges raised in the Hindenburg report against the Adani Group.
The Congress is alleging that the issue involves crores of rupees of common people invested in the Adani Group, whose shares have seen a beating on the stock markets ever since the allegations of "financial malpractices and stock manipulation" came out in the Hindenburd research report.
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
