Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has claimed that the two persons who allegedly abducted him from Antigua were the agents of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

In an interview run on India Today TV, Mehul Choksi identified the pictures of Gurmit Singh and Gurjit Bhandal, the two men he claimed to be RAW agents. He also identified Barbara Jarabica, his close acquaintance from whose house he was allegedly abducted.

“I was under the belief that they (Gurmit Singh and Gurjit Bhandal) were RAW agents. Even when I reached Dominica, I heard stories about RAW agents and they are around islands and places around the world,” Mehul Choksi said.

“They said they were RAW agents and were taking me for interrogation. They were very tough with me and beat me here and there,” he added.

Read: Back in Antigua, Mehul Choksi says kidnapping by Indian agencies left permanent scars on soul

Mehul Choksi said on May 23, he went to Barbara Jarabica’s house to pick her up for dinner. “I took my car to pick her up. I went to her house and she invited me inside. I felt nothing wrong. I parked my car opposite her house and went inside. She was having a glass of wine. She made me sit on the sofa and just after 3-4 minutes, a group of people entered from two sides.”

“They said we know who you are and we are taking you for interrogation. Two of them took my hands, two of them took my legs and I was totally overtaken by them,” Mehul Choksi said.

Mehul Choksi also claimed that he had been hearing rumours about his kidnapping over the last three years, since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “I was told a plane is arriving and many people said they are watching you and will take you out and kill you,” he said.

“However, when the (Covid-19) vaccinations came (from India to Antigua), people told me they were given in return of you. I could very well imagine it was a plot towards that,” Mehul Choksi claimed.

Who is named in Choksi’s complaint?

Mehul Choksi was arrested in Dominica on May 26 for allegedly entering the country “illegally” from Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been living since January 2018.

In a complaint to the Antigua Police, Mehul Choksi claimed he is an Antiguan citizen and was forcibly brought to Dominica. His legal team identified four individuals they claim were key to his alleged abduction from Antigua and Barbuda.

Among the accused are 31-year-old Hungarian national Barbara Jarabica, British Indians Gurmit Singh (63) and Gurjit Singh Bhandal (50), along with one Gurdip Bath (45), who is a diplomat for St Kitts and Nevis.

Why is Mehul Choksi wanted in India?

Mehul Choksi is wanted in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. He and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted for allegedly siphoning Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the state-run PNB using letters of undertaking.