"He was lured into a property, kidnapped"
Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi was allegedly tortured and abducted.
Choksi is one of the accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud, the same scam that Nirav Modi was allegedly involved in.
In January 2018, Choksi fled to Antigua and Barbuda and has been living there as a citizen.
In May 2021, he disappeared from the nation before being traced to Dominica. However, his lawyer said that he was “unlawfully renditioned” so that he would not have the option to appeal against any efforts to strip him of his Antiguan citizenship.
Michael Polak said that the legal team representing Choksi also filed a complaint with the War Crimes Unit of the Met Police, alleging that Choksi was tortured.
Mr Polak said Choksi’s case is one of “egregious breach of the rule of law and fundamental fairness”.
He said: What has happened to Mehul Choksi has been terrible.
“He was lured into a property, kidnapped, a bag placed over his head, beaten, forced onto a boat and unlawfully renditioned into another country.
“In Antigua, he has the right to appeal to the Privy Council in London to determine whether the government is acting properly against him.
“In Dominica, he does not have such protection. The motive behind the kidnapping could not be clearer.”
The complaint said: “He was severely mistreated by the use of electric shocks, being threatened with a knife and beaten during this forced rendition to Dominica.”
Mehul Choksi disappeared from Antigua on the evening of May 23, 2021.
While it has been claimed he fled to Dominica with his girlfriend, Choksi’s wife and his lawyers say he was abducted by Antiguan and Indian officials, tortured and taken to Dominica in a boat.
He has been charged with illegal entry. Choksi is now being treated at a hospital after a court adjourned his case until June 14, 2021.
In Choksi’s complaint, it said that after he reached Dominica, his abductors told him that he was brought there to meet an “Indian politician”.
Choksi has identified Gurdip Bath, Gurjit Singh and Gurmit Singh as his abductors, all UK residents.
It was alleged that he was lured by Barbara Jarabik and then attacked by several men before being taken on a boat to Dominica.
A complaint filed by Mr Polak with the Met Police stated that Choksi’s case should be investigated by the War Crimes Unit as it involves torture.
Mr Polak said that under Section 134 of the UK Criminal Justice Act, English courts have jurisdiction over such matters wherever in the world they take place.
He said: “The War Crimes Unit of the Metropolitan Police investigates war crimes, torture and genocide wherever it takes place.”
Mr Polak stated that there is evidence that Jarabik and the other men had carried out a “reconnaissance or a failed attempt to kidnap”.
He added that the Met Police and Crown Prosecution Service will have the final say in an investigation.
On Mehul Choksi’s alleged role in the fraud, Mr Polak said:
“The current case is not about the scams, it’s about due process.
“We don’t act by kidnapping people, that’s not how things are done.”
However, Dominica declared Choksi a prohibited immigrant, directing the police to remove him.
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