New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was ‘forcefully’ taken to Dominica and has ‘marks on his body’, his lawyer claimed on Thursday (May 27).
Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal claimed that the Gitanjali group chairman was picked up by various people, ‘forced’ to get into a vessel from Antigua and then was taken to Dominica.
His legal counsel said, "Choksi has narrated his horrifying experience which is an eye-opener and vindicates my stand that he would not have gone from Antigua voluntarily. Choksi has said that he was forced to get into a vessel from Jolly Harbor in Antigua and he was taken to Dominica," IANS reported.
Further, he alleged that there are ‘marks of torture’ on Choksi’s body.
The 62-year-old businessman, who has been residing in Antigua and Barbuda since 2018 after his escape from India, had gone missing on Sunday under mysterious circumstances.
Confirming the 'marks' claim, Choksi’s lawyer in Dominica, Wayne Marsh, said he saw marks on the body of Choksi who had swollen eyes and feared for his life, PTI reported.
Aggarwal claimed that after being taken from Antigua, Choksi was kept at someplace. On Monday, he was taken to a police station, and since then he has been there while this news to the world was broken only on Wednesday, adding that there were marks on the fugitive businessman’s body.
Earlier, lawyers of Choksi, who was detained in Dominica, had filed a habeas corpus petition in a court of the Carribean island country after they were allegedly denied access to him, Aggarwal informed.
Meanwhile, officials have said that Choksi would be sent back to Antigua, where he holds citizenship. "Choksi would be charged with illegally entering Dominica and by the rule of law, he will be sent back to his home country Antigua and Barbuda, where he holds citizenship for the past four years," the officials told WIC News. They also confirmed that Choksi had entered Dominica through seaways, ANI reported.
Earlier, in an exclusive interview with WION on Wednesday (May 26), Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne had said that Mehul Choksi could be sent back to India in the next 48 hours from Dominica where he was captured while trying to flee.
PM Browne said, "Assuming no legal impediments, I believe within the next 48 hours Choksi could be perhaps in a private jet, you know, repatriated to India."
Choksi is wanted in India in connection with the Rs 13,5000-crore Punjab National Bank loan fraud case.
(With inputs from agencies)
