Changed Mallya LOC as no sufficient evidence for arrest: CBI
New Delhi, Sep 18 : The first lookout circular (LOC) against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya for his detention at airports was changed as there was "no sufficient ground" for his arrest, a CBI source said on Tuesday.
"As he was a sitting member of Parliament and there was no warrant to arrest him, the agency realised the need for making correction in the LOC from 'detention' to 'information' to the CBI whenever he travelled abroad," the source said.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials later wrote to the Immigration Department to seek modification in the LOC as "Mallya was cooperating" in the probe and the agency was still collecting evidence from banks, the source added.
The first LOC against the head of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines was issued on October 16, 2015. The second LOC was issued on November 24, 2015, the day Mallya returned from the United Kingdom.
The source said that Mallya even after the issuance of the notice continued to provide documents and answer questions from the agency.
Mallya appeared thrice for questioning and made foreign trips four times after the new LOC was issued, he said.
Mallya left India on March 2, 2016, and faces charges of defrauding banks to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.
He is currently in London where a court finished hearing on India's extradition case against him on Wednesday and is due to pronounce its verdict on December 10.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
