New Delhi: A lookout notice was issued by the CBI against jeweler Nirav Modi and his associates last month in the banking fraud case, but by then they had escaped from India, CBI sources said on Thursday.

According to the sources, a Look Out Circular was issued against Modi along with his wife Ami, brother Nishal Modi and Mehul Choksi in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case on January 31.

The circular was issued to all airports, ports and exit points to stop them from escaping. However, according to the sources, Modi and his associates fled the country before the notices were issued.

While Nirav and his brother Nishal left India on January 1, his wife Ami, a US citizen, and Choksi went on January 6, all before the CBI received a complaint from the PNB on January 29.

The source added that around 150 Letters of Understanding were issued to Nirav Modi's firms by the PNB. In the course of the probe, the CBI has finished imaging computers seized during searches at Modi's properties on February 3, 4 and 21.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi (PTI): AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday responded to the Election Commission notice over his claim the Haryana government was "mixing poison" in Yamuna, and said raw water received from the BJP-ruled state in the recent past has been "highly contaminated and extremely poisonous" for human health.

In the 14-page reply to the Election Commission, the former Delhi chief minister said if such "toxic water" is allowed to be consumed by human population it would lead to grave health hazard and fatality.

Kejriwal said he only wanted to highlight the "urgent public health crisis" due to the quality of drinking water in the city, and he violated no law or Model Code of Conduct, hence the issue should be closed.

He said the "alleged statements" attributed to him were made as it was his public duty to red flag the "severe toxicity and contamination" of raw water received from the BJP-ruled state.

Following a complaint filed by the BJP over the matter, the Election Commission issued the notice to Kejriwal on Tuesday, giving him time till Wednesday 8 pm to furnish his reply.

Kejriwal also said the ammonia level in raw water received from Haryana was so "extreme" that water treatment plants in Delhi are unable to process and bring it down to safe and permissible limits for human consumption.

Following their party chief's response, the AAP issued a statement, saying, "It is an undisputed fact that there is 7 ppm ammonia in Yamuna water, A Delhi Jal Board CEO letter admits toxicity is 700 percent higher than the permissible limit."

In his response to the EC, Kejriwal also alleged that Haryana's "failure" in controlling pollution in Yamuna has resulted in an "unprecedented public health crisis" in Delhi. He alleged "indiscriminate" discharge of industrial waste in the river by the state.

The AAP supremo said Haryana is an upper-riparian state and Delhi, ruled by his party, has no role to play in the high level of toxic water being made available to the city.

"Due to such high level of toxic content in the raw water supplied by Haryana, the water treatment plants in Delhi are operating below capacity and there is a shortage of treated water in Delhi," he claimed.

Saying that access to clean water is a basic human right, the AAP chief asserted that raising this critical issue cannot be considered an offence.

"The said statement by no stretch of the imagination can be termed inciting enmity between different groups or prejudicial to national integration," he said.

On the contrary, the substance and purpose of these statements are rooted solely in the public interest, aimed at highlighting a legitimate civic concern that requires urgent institutional intervention, he asserted.

He requested the EC to intervene in the matter and issue appropriate directions to Haryana so safe water is made available to the people of Delhi.