Mehul Choksi in Dominica till June 2 at least; visits Dominica-China Friendship Hospital

In the latest development, the High Court of Dominica has restrained the removal of fugitive ex-diamantaire Mehul Choksi from the country and set the Habeas Corpus petition to be heard next on June 2. As per WIC news, Mehul Choksi will be taken to Dominica-China Friendship hospital to get tested for COVID and for other medical attention. As per reports, the High Court ordered the parties to hold discussions regarding the secure placement for Mehul Choksi after his COVID test returns and asked the parties to mutually agree and inform the Court as well. Further, the Court allowed Mehul Choksi to meet his legal counsels and directed the respondents to file their affidavits by June 1. 

Antigua Police rubbishes Mehul Choksi's abduction claim 

Antigua's Police Commissioner has slammed fugitive ex-diamantaire Mehul Choksi's advocate for alleging that he was forcefully abducted, and refuted such reports citing that no such information was received, as per Antiguan media reports. Taking on Mehul Choksi's counsel over the kidnapping allegation, Antigua Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney said that assertions were being made by the former without any evidence and that even the Dominican Police did not believe the 'abduction theory'. Revealing that Mehul Choksi used a boat to get to Dominica on May 23, the Antigua Police Commissioner ruled out the involvement of any of his personnel in the matter while speaking to local media in Antigua.  

Mehul Choksi's lawyer claims he was tortured

Speaking exclusively to Republic TV, advocate Vijay Aggarwal claimed that the truth regarding the torture faced by his client Mehul Choksi will be out in the next 12 hours. Aggarwal mentioned, "He reached Dominica on Sunday. On Monday, he was taken to the police station. And the news was broken to the world on Wednesday. Because of the court proceedings, now Dominica can't take them wherever they want and the truth has a very strange way of coming out of the closet". Earlier, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court had temporarily stayed the repatriation of the fugitive diamantaire and allowed him access to lawyers. 

The PNB scam accused's lawyer stated, "The court has also ordered that Mehul Choksi's affidavit should be put on record. I told you previously that lawyer had just two-minute access to Mr.Choksi in which he narrated his horrifying tale. I will be getting all this and in the next 24 hours, we will get to know all the details. I will get access to Mr.Choksi's affidavit also."

Indian High Commissioner to visit Dominica seeking Mehul Choksi's extradition

The government of Dominica on Thursday confirmed that its law enforcement personnel had detained fugitive ex-diamantaire, Mehul Choksi, upon his illegal entry into the country, and then, India confirmed it is sending its High-Commissioner based in Trinidad & Tobago to Dominica on June 3 to seek his extradition. Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Dominican govt said that a red alert notice has been issued for Mehul Choksi by Interpol and that their Ministry of National Security & Home Affairs was in touch with the Antiguan authorities to ascertain facts about Choksi's citizenship. The statement noted that Mehul Choksi would be repatriated to Antigua after they received information that they have sought. Arun Kumar Sahu, High Commissioner of India based in Trinidad and Tobago will travel to Dominica and a meeting between the Governments of Dominica and India would most likely be held on coming Thursday. All matters related to Indians in Dominica are subject to the High Commissioner of India based in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Earlier on Thursday, sources informed that the Indian government is in touch with both Antigua & Barbuda and the Dominican government over the matter. This comes after the Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, Gaston Browne, told Republic that he had asked Dominica to deport Choksi directly back to India as a persona-non-grata.