A high-level team of officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and National Investigation Agency would be soon despatched to the United Kingdom to expedite extradition of India’s most wanted fugitives – diamond trader Nirav Modi, Kingfisher Airlines promoter Vijay Mallya and defence dealer Sanjay Bhandari, sources said on Tuesday (January 16).
Sources said that the team heading to London will hold bilateral discussion regarding the longstanding exchange of information pending with the UK authorities under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).
Notably, being signatories to MLAT, both the UK and India are obligated to legally share information on criminal investigations involving economic offenders and others. The NIA is at present investigating multiple terror suspects associated with the Khalistani movement.
Despite the Union Home Ministry being the designated authority for MLAT matters, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is actively engaged in diplomatic interactions with the UK in this instance, as all requests are channelled through MEA for foreign countries.
MEA official to accompany
It is also learnt that the visiting team would include a senior officer from the MEA during the meeting with the UK authorities. The meeting would be arranged in sessions in close supervision of the Indian High Commission in London.
Given that everything goes as planned, the joint team is expected to depart this month.
According to sources, besides expediting the process of extradition of the fugitives, the team is learnt to seek outstanding information about assets obtained by them in London, including specifics about their banking transactions.
According to the officers privy to the development, the initiatives are being taken to identify the properties of the fugitives in the UK and other countries, aiming to seize the ‘proceeds of crime’.
The extradition cases of Sanjay Bhandari, Nirav Modi, and Mallya are awaiting resolution in the UK, as they have appealed in higher courts against deportation to India. The ED has already seized their assets in India, and significant funds have been recovered by selling the assets of Mallya and Modi, amounting to thousands of crores, which were then returned to banks to settle their outstanding dues.
Bhandari’s close ties with Robert Vadra
Bhandari, who is an arms dealer who fled in 2016 following investigations by income tax and the Enforcement Directorate into various defence deals during the UPA regime, is known to have close ties with Robert Vadra, the husband of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi.
According to the ED, Bhandari has obtained properties in London and Dubai, subsequently transferring them to shell companies overseen by CC Thampi, an alleged associate of Vadra.
However, Nirav Modi faces allegations in a fraud case related to Punjab National Bank funds exceeding Rs 6,500 crore, whereas Mallya's assets, valued at over Rs 5,000 crore, have been attached and seized due to bank defrauding activities.
The ED is investigating Bhandari, Thampi, and Vadra for alleged payoffs received in various defence deals. The agency has attached Bhandari's properties in India, totalling over Rs 26 crore, and filed charges against him. A special court, similar to the cases of Mallya and Modi, has declared Bhandari as a fugitive economic offender.
(With ANI inputs)
