For the first time in three years, unseen picture of fugitive ex-diamantaire Mehul Choksi who is currently logged in the Dominica jail has surfaced online. Locked behind the bars, Choksi eyes look visibly swollen with a bruised arm. The images have surfaced two days after the fugitive diamantaire’s lawyer claimed that his client may have been tortured. “I have been told that there are marks of torture on the body. Now, we are trying our very best in Dominica for legal recourse so that he is sent back to Antigua," Aggarwal was quoted as saying by ANI on Thursday. For the unversed, Choksi faces multiple charges of embezzling funds from the state-owned Punjab National Bank in India; the fraud is worth some ₹13,500-crore. Having fled Antigua Island on May 23, Choksi was traced in Dominica and was nabbed by law enforcement personnel following the yellow notice alert issued for him.
Antigua's Police Commissioner slammed claim of Choksi's advocate that the ex-diamantaire 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'. 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.