‘He Said He’d Kill Me’: Video of Nirav Modi’s Threats in UK Court

Nirav Modi is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank (PNB) with over Rs 13,700 crore.  

(Photo Courtesy: The Quint)

In a video submitted by the CBI to the UK court, a bunch of ‘dummy directors’ of the various companies fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi had a stake in, have alleged that they were being threatened by him, said a report by PTI.

This court hearing was in relation to the extradition case against the diamond merchant charged with fraud and money laundering.

The video, which was played at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, has six Indian men, who alleged that they were being forced to leave Dubai and come to Cairo, Egypt.

They added that their passports were confiscated and also allegedly made to sign dubious documents against their will by Nirav’s brother Nehal Modi.

The PTI report quotes one of the witnesses from a recording in 2018 as saying, “My name is Ashish Kumar Mohanbhai Lad, I am the namesake owner of Sunshine Gems Limited, Hong Kong, and Unity Trading Fze, Dubai. Nirav Modi phoned me and told me that he would implicate me for theft. He used the worst expletives... told me that he would get me killed... he did so much to us.”

The witnesses include several traders, who claim that their passports were taken away and that they wanted to go back to India.

Union Law Min Attacks Congress

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told PTI on Thursday, 14 May, that the Congress was trying to ‘protect’ Modi, who is currently undergoing an extradition trial in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

The report also says that Prasad alleged that a Congress member, who is also an ex-high court judge, appeared as defence witness in extradition proceedings against Modi.

While Prasad did not name the judge, other BJP functionaries like Sambit Patra have: Former Bombay High Court judge Abhay Thipsay, who joined the Congress in June 2018 after retiring in 2017, and who is reported to have given testimony to the court that the charges against Modi are unlikely to succeed in court.

“There exist some overpowering suspicious circumstances to suggest that Congress is trying its best to save Nirav Modi,” Prasad told PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)