No conclusive evidence that Mehul Choksi was abducted, says Antigua PM

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne on Tuesday said that he was not aware of any evidence that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was abducted and taken to AntiguaPM Browne faced a barrage of questions on Mehul Choksi in parliament by the MPsAnswering a question whether he or the Minister of National Security aware or if any other investigative body has found any evidence that Mehul Choksi was taken to Dominica by involuntary means Browne said Im not aware of evidence but theres information in the public domain Mehul Choksi was abductedAnd Im aware that law enforcement here would have done some research and perhaps may have some individuals of interests but in so far as evidence is concerned I am not aware that there is any such conclusive evidence I am not aware that the sea vessel would have breached the security of the state my understanding is that the vessel ostensibly that was utilised to abduct MC came here legally so I am not aware that there is any such legal Browne said while answering a query related to the integrity of Antigua and Barbuda bordersAlso read Dominica declares Mehul Choksi as prohibited immigrantHe also said that the royal Antigua and Barbuda police force issued the yellow notice to Interpol in the first instance to try and locate Mehul Choksi when he was reported missingIts well known that throughout the Caribbean region we have relatively porous borders because of all of the different keys and the different beaches and evidently we do not have enough resources including manpower he saidIt is an area that we continue to struggle with we have been assisted by the US government and other external agencies to help us to build capacity in that area But admittedly it is one of the weak areas in which the countries in the Caribbean you know they all have porous borders he addedChoksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was soon caught in Dominica He was charged with illegal entry by the police in Dominica after he allegedly escaped from Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to evade extradition to IndiaThe Government is actively engaged with the Dominican government to seek the early deportation of ChoksiChoksis lawyers have claimed that he was kidnapped and didnt go to Dominica of his own free willThe 62yearold fugitive is wanted in India in connection with a Rs 13500crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank PNBThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever