Choksi will be brought back to India: Rajnath
Greater Noida, Jan 21: Home Minister Rajnath Singh Monday asserted that absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi will not be spared and will be brought back to India to face the law.
Singh, who laid the foundation stone for a Kendriya Vidyalaya at a CISF camp here, said this in response to a question about Choksi surrendering his Indian passport to the High Commission in Guyana.
The diamond jeweller had taken citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda after his name cropped up in the USD 2 billion fraud at a Mumbai-based branch of the PNB along with his nephew and businessman Nirav Modi.
"We have brought the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act and there is a process under that law (to check fraud cases). He (Choksi) will be brought to India for sure. No one will be spared. Action will be taken against everyone," the minister said on the sidelines of the event.
As per the law, Indian citizens are expected to surrender their passports when they acquire foreign nationality.
Government sources said India continues to pursue Choksi's return with the government of Antigua through diplomatic and legal channels.
In August last year, India gave Antigua a request for Choksi's extradition. A team from India was also sent to Antigua to pursue the request.
Both Choksi and Nirav Modi are being probed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate. The agencies have arrested several people and filed charge sheets in the case.
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UP: Fake IAS officer marries woman, flees with Rs 15 lakh dowry
Gorakhpur (UP) (PTI): A newly married man fled with the Rs 15 lakh given to him as dowry by the bride's family, and it came to light later that he was an alleged serial scammer, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Pritam Kumar Nishad from Etawah, allegedly posed as an IAS officer to deceive the woman into marrying him. He is currently absconding with his sister, and a case has been filed against him for cheating, dowry harassment, and forgery, officials said.
According to the police, the woman's family claimed that they spent nearly Rs 30 lakh for the wedding that was solemnised on March 11.
The match was arranged through a matrimonial group, where the accused introduced himself as an IAS officer, sharing purported interview clips, office visuals, and photographs with politicians to gain the family's trust.
Despite initially claiming he would marry without dowry, the accused allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh shortly before the engagement. The bride's family paid Rs 10 lakh in cash during the engagement and the remaining Rs 5 lakh on the wedding day, the police said.
The fraud came to light on Saturday after the woman reached Etawah, and a wedding attendee informed the family that the accused was not a civil servant. When her relatives visited the address provided by him, they found her in a small rented room, while the accused and his sister had fled, the police added.
The woman has also alleged that the accused planned to take her to Goa and sell her, and accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
The police suspect that the accused may have been involved in multiple such marriages in the past. Based on a complaint lodged at the cantonment police station, an FIR was registered on Saturday evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Kaustubh said efforts are underway to arrest the accused.
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