Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has been admitted to a hospital in Dominica due to the bruises and injuries he received. Meanwhile, a Covid test on him which was taken twenty-four hours earlier showed a negative result.
The 63-year -old businessman was taken to China Friendship Hospital in Roseau on Sunday night after he was taken out of the police custody, the Times of India reported.
Choksi’s Antiguan lawyer Justin Simon said the news of his client being transferred to a hospital from police custody was true. Simon implied that the news coming out of Dominican publications were true and that he would not send ‘fake news information’.
Also Read | Mehul Choksi to remain in Dominica, next hearing on June 2: Court
Earlier, Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne claimed that Choksi reportedly took his girlfriend on a “romantic trip” to Dominica where he was caught.
"The information that we are getting is that Mehul Choksi may have taken his girlfriend to Dominica probably to have dinner or have a good time and so on and got caught. That would have been a monumental error because in Antigua he is a citizen, we could not deport him...," he said in an interview to a local radio station as reported by Antigua News Room.
The Prime Minister further said that if Choksi is sent back to Antigua he will enjoy the benefits of being an Antiguan citizen, even though his citizenship is still unsettled. The absconding businessman will have constitutional and legal rights, which the Prime Minister deemed as a ‘problem’.
Also Read | Dominican court stays Mehul Choksi’s deportation to India
Choksi may have been trying to flee to Cuba, a country with whom India does not have an extradition treaty, Times of India reported.
Later, pictures of 62-year-old Choksi surfaced in Dominica that shows him with red swollen eye and bruises on his hands.
Choksi was caught by the police in Dominica while he was allegedly trying to get rid of some paperwork.
Meanwhile, two Indian agents, who were allegedly involved in the abduction of Choksi from Antigua have left Dominica.
Bhandal Gurjit and Singh Gurmit, reportedly left the Caribbean island for London after the matter became court litigation. They were staying in Fort Young hotel.
In another twist, the yacht company in which Choksi was carried from Antigua to Dominica has rejected any allegations that suggest that their ship was used even though several pictures have emerged.
“Cobra Tours & Yacht Services are the premier yacht agents on the island of Dominica. This means we provide clearance, provisioning, and tour services while in Dominica. We do not charter out boats. The reports are based on a clearance document circulating where our name listed as the agent of a yacht which arrived in Dominica on Monday, May 24. This yacht entered Dominica with no agent,” a spokesman for the company told TOI on Sunday night.
The case of Choksi, an accused in Rs 1400 crore PNB scam and wanted by the Indian authorities, will come up for hearing in the Dominican high court this week.
In its order on Friday, the high court said, “The application for Habeas Corpus will be heard in open court on Wednesday 2nd June 2021 at 9:00 am to 10:00 am in the forenoon.” The court also asked the lawyers not to speak to the media.
