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Police are investigating the alleged kidnapping and torture of a “honey trap” of a fugitive millionaire jewelry dealer.
Scotland Yard is investigating after a human rights lawyer reported diamond tycoon Mehul Choksi was kidnapped and tortured in Antigua. It is claimed that a British citizen was part of the conspiracy.
Lawyers for the Indian millionaire say he was lured into a villa, gagged, gagged, then tied to a wheelchair and beaten – before being whisked away on a yacht and taken to Dominica, 110 miles away.
Torture falls under international law investigated by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit.
Mr Choksi’s legal team are fighting extradition attempts to his native India, where he is wanted for his alleged role in a £ 1billion bank scam.
London lawyer Michael Polak, who heads the Justice Abroad legal group, told the Sunday Mirror that there was evidence that Mr Choksi, 62, had been kidnapped by a group comprising a Briton and three foreign nationals residing in UK.
A London-based glamorous Hungarian real estate consultant reportedly lured Mr Choksi into the Airbnb villa.
(Image: Getty)
Mr Polak said: “We believe the objective was for him to be taken to India, bypassing the proper legal process.”
Mr. Choksi was the owner of the Gitanjali group, one of the largest Indian jewelers. He fled in 2018, shortly before being accused of massive bank fraud alongside his nephew, jeweler Nirav Modi.
Mr Modi is currently in Wandsworth Prison in London, appealing against the extradition.
Mr Choksi was fighting in the courts of Antigua, where he had acquired citizenship through an investment program and renounced his Indian citizenship – what India says is not valid. A few days after his incarceration in Dominica for illegal entry, a plane chartered by India arrived, apparently carrying documents in support of his extradition.
Photos of him behind bars show a swollen eye and bruises on his hands.
Mr. Polak said: “As an Antiguan citizen kidnapped in Antigua, the only appropriate solution is for him to be returned to Antigua so that due process can be followed.”
The Met confirmed: “The War Crimes Unit has received a referral relating to allegations of torture.
