The United Kindgom has confirmed the presence of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, main accused in the ₹ 13,578-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, in its territory.
Soon after his location was communicated by the U.K. authorities, the CBI moved an application seeking his extradition. The request is being sent through the Home and External Affairs Ministries.
“We have also sent a copy of the Interpol Red Notice issued against [Nirav] Modi, seeking his immediate detention and intimation,” said an official.
Modi, along with his immediate relatives whose names have come up in the scam, left the country in the first week of January, just days before the CBI registered a case against him.
He was later spotted in several countries, but he kept evading detection until the U.K. authorities determined his current location.
His maternal uncle and co-accused fugitive Mehul Choksi has taken refuge in Antigua. He had applied for its citizenship in 2017 and got it in November 2017.