Jewellery tycoon Nirav Modi, the main accused in the USD 2 billion PNB scam case, was arrested in London on Wednesday. He will be produced before a local court later in the day to secure bail.
The Westminster Magistrate Court had on Monday issued an arrest warrant against Modi in response to a request by India's Enforcement Directorate for his extradition. The legal proceedings for his extradition will begin after he is produced in the court. Reports suggest that the strict civilian laws in the United Kingdom might allow Modi to get bail instantly.
The ED, early this month, had said that United Kingdom's home secretary Sajid Javid had referred India's request for extraditing Modi to a court for initiating legal proceedings against the diamantaire.
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A British daily had recently published a report and video showing Modi walking in the streets of London and said the fugitive diamantaire was living in a swanky 8 million pounds apartment in the city's West End and that he was involved in a new diamond business.
The ED and the CBI are investigating Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others for alleged money laundering and corruption to perpetrate the alleged scam in the Brady House branch of the PNB in Mumbai that was unearthed last year. Modi has been chargesheeted by both the agencies.
Meanwhile, CBI sources said on Tuesday that expeditious efforts are being made to get the absconding jeweller extradited from the UK.
The ED has attached his assets worth Rs 1,873.08 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and has also seized assets linked to him and his family worth Rs 489.75 crore.
Modi, 48, is currently living in a three-bedroom flat occupying half of a floor of the landmark Centre Point tower block in London, where rent is estimated to cost 17,000 pounds a month, The Telegraph newspaper of the UK had reported.
With inputs from PTI
