New Delhi:
India Thursday welcomed the arrest of bank fraud accused
Nirav Modi by British authorities in London, and said it was
engaged
with the
UK
for his extradition at the
earliest.
Ministry of External Affairs (
MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said
India continued to actively follow up
with the
UK the case of Modi's extradition to
India.
"We welcome the fact that Nirav Modi has been arrested by the United Kingdom authorities pursuant to the arrest warrant issued by the Westminster Magistrate Court," Kumar said.
"Government of
India continues to actively follow up this matter
with the authorities concerned in the
UK,
with a view to have Nirav Modi extradited to
India at the
earliest," he said.
The arrest of Modi, the main accused in the USD 2 billion PNB scam case, came days after a London court issued an arrest warrant against him in response to a request by the Enforcement Directorate
for his extradition in a
money laundering case.
On Wednesday, a court in the
UK, remanded him in custody till March 29.
Modi and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, are the main accused in the PNB scam and they both left
India before the details of the fraud came to light in January 2018.
Modi is one of
India's richest men, worth an estimated USD 1.75 billion, according to
Forbes. He launched his own eponymous brand in 2010 and he soon had stores across
India, as well as in New York, London and Hong Kong.