NEW CONG LOGIC: After Nirav Modi's London arrest, Congress claims 'he was sent by government, brought back for elections'

The Congress has conjured a brand new line of attack on the government in light of the arrest of Nirav Modi in London and his impending appearance before a UK court.

Speaking to reporters mere moments after sealing a seat-sharing deal with the National Conference (NC), senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad claimed that India's best known alleged financial fraudsters - Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya - are being brought back by the government during elections, and this cycle of sending fraudsters abroad and bringing them back before elections would be restarted after the 2019 elections as well.

Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Whether it be Nirav Modi or Lalit Modi or Vijay Mallya - it was by asking the BJP government that they had fled the country after looting thousands of crores of the people's money. They enjoyed for years and now during elections they're being brought back by them (government) and during elections they'll send another 10-20 and in the next elections, bring them also back."

Farooq Abdullah concurred with his ally, saying, "This government let Nirav Modi go and this government is bringing him back. Now you see after the election they'll let him off again."

Nirav Modi was arrested on Tuesday, as per the London Metropolitan police, and will be produced in court on Wednesday. Here's the statement by the UK Police:

"Nirav Deepak Modi, 48 (Date of Birth 24.02.71), was arrested on behalf of the Indian Authorities on Tuesday, 19 March, in Holborn. He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 20 March." 

Nirav Modi's arrest comes just two days after a UK court issued an arrest warrant against him and weeks after he was spotted on London streets on a walkabout. Nirav Modi had remained brazen at this time - his first public sighting since fleeing the country 17 months earlier - refusing to comment when confronted by reporters about defrauding Indians.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) which had been defrauded by Nirav Modi to the tune of Rs 11,400 crore saw its stock price jump by almost 4% in just 20 minutes in light of the arrest. A compromised branch of the bank had been used to issue (Letters of Undertaking) LoUs by which Nirav Modi managed to secure numerous loans from overseas branches of Indian banks. The LoUs had allegedly not been flagged internally as the bank's software for overseas banking and core banking hadn't been reconciled.

Nirav Modi's arrest comes at a time when the proceedings to bring Vijay Mallya back to India are also in their final stages.