Interpol has lifted its Red Notice against wanted businessman Mehul Choksi, putting an end to efforts by Indian law enforcement to extradite the eluded diamantaire from Antigua.
Choksi recently filed a case in the Antigua high court claiming the Indian government and two Indian agents of kidnapping him from Antigua and forcibly transporting him to the Dominican Republic in June 2021. Choksi is accused of cheating Punjab National Bank of more than £1.3 billion.
Interpol's decision is claimed to have been influenced by this incident and Choksi's plea because its authorities believed that extradition to India based on the Red Notice could deny Choksi a fair trial given the likelihood that the 2021 incident was an attempt to extract him, according to sources.
The issuance of the Red Notice, or an internal arrest warrant, against Choksi was a result of sustained efforts by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate as the Interpol had initially expressed its reservations after Choksi claimed he was being targeted for political reasons.
In his petition to the Antigua court, Choksi had claimed that on May 23, 2021, he was lured to meet a woman named Barbara for dinner and was taken hostage by a group. “A hood was placed over his head after he was tied to a wheelchair and gagged. . . He was tortured before being wheeled into a small boat and was later transferred to Calliope of Arne (a Vincentian registered sailing yacht),” a complaint filed by him said. He claimed he was taken to Dominica.
