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Interpol issues 3 Red Corner notices against Mehul Choksi’s suspected kidnappers

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 The Interpol has issued three red corner notices against persons suspected of kidnapping and torturing fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi in May 2021.

These moves were at the Antigua and Barbuda authorities’ request.

A statement issued by the police force of the island nation said: “Those Red Notices were approved (by a magistrate of the country Conliffe Clarke) and issued (by Interpol).”

The Interpol notices are a setback for Indian law enforcement and intelligence agencies, who accuse Choksi of defrauding the public sector Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore and want him for questioning in India.

Choksi denies the charge and insists his companies never defaulted on loans from the bank.

Choksi, who has apparently been a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda since 2017, complained that he was beaten up, blindfolded and forcibly taken on a boat from Antigua to Dominica, another island in the West Indies.

This complaint was prima facie upheld by an interim finding of the Antiguan police as well as by a Dominican court.

The charge made by Choksi was he was lured into a Hungarian woman’s flat in Antigua, following which two UK-based men of Indian descent took him to Dominica and handed him over to Dominican police.

Reportedly, Indian law enforcement officers arrived in Dominica on a leased Qatar Airways executive jet to secretly whisk him away to India; but were dramatically thwarted by a local radio presenter, Loftus Durand, breaking the news of Choksi’s illegal detention.

Meanwhile, the police commissioner of Antigua and Barbuda, Atlee Rodney, has sternly denied any collusion between his force and Choksi as suggested in an article circulated by an Indian news agency and carried by a section of Indian news media last week.

The piece seemingly quoted a blogger Kenneth Rijock (described as “a renowned financial crimes investigator”), who the wire report claimed “said that Choksi has been scheming to illegally extend the court process in Antigua, by paying bribes to government officials, including senior Antigua police official, Adonis Henry”.

“Multiple witnesses report that Choksi and Inspector Henry have been meeting at least three times a day at Al Porto, a Jolly Harbour (an area in Antigua) restaurant reportedly owned by Choksi, wrote Rijock in his financial crime blob.”

“Choksi not only reached out to Henry but also tried to influence Antigua magistrate Conliffe Clarke through illegal payments,” it added.

Reacting to such reporting, Commissioner Rodney stated: “It is most unfortunate that Mr Kenneth Rijock, on his internet blog, made several false statements, concerning the Antigua and Barbuda Police Force in relation to Mr Mehul Choksi without ascertaining the facts.

“The entire blog is false with inadequate or no research of the facts and has a malicious purpose and ought not to have been posted.”

The Antiguan police testified that only two meetings took place between Choksi and Inspector Henry.

“Both engagements occurred around August 2021 and June 2022 during an investigation… at Mr Choksi’s office… in the presence of his attorney.”

A media report in IMI, an internet media outlet, claimed Rijock received a four-year federal prison sentence for duping US tax authorities and that there are several libel cases against him.

As for Choksi attempting to influence Magistrate Clarke to delay court proceedings relating to India’s demand for his extradition, Antigua News Room, a media portal, produced a copy of a letter his attorneys have written to the Registrar of the High Court in Antigua.

The letter pointed out that Rijock’s article, as reported via a news agency, “has the clear and significant potential to undermine the justice system of Antigua and Barbuda”.

Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s party was re-elected in a general election on Wednesday.

There was no comment from the government.

Crime

Senior citizen in Bengal’s Dinhata attempts suicide, fearing deletion of name from voters’ list

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Kolkata, Oct 29: A 60-year old man, Khairul Sheikh, a resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, allegedly tried to commit suicide by consuming poison on Wednesday reportedly out of the fear of getting his name deleted from the voters’ list following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, the groundwork for which will start from November 4.

His family members have told the police and the media persons that, although the name of Sheikh was in the voters’ list of 2002, the year when the SIR was conducted in West Bengal for the last time, the spelling of his name was incorrect in that list.

According to Shaikh’s family members, he was scared that because of the mistake in the spelling of his name in the 2002 list, his name might be deleted from the voters’ list.

Confirming the development, the new District Police Superintendent, Sandip Karra, told media persons that as per the versions of Sheikh’s family members since the SIR was announced for West Bengal by the ECI earlier this week, he started panicking.

“The police have started an investigation into the matter. He is currently under treatment. We will investigate him after he recovers and get to know from him the reasons behind his act,” Karra said.

Trinamool Congress’ Cooch Behar district president, Avijit Dey, said that the incident is proof of what kind of panic is there among the common people over the SIR.

“What I heard is that some people told Sheikh that because of the mistake in the spelling of his name in the 2022 list, his name will be deleted from the voters’ list following the fresh SIR, and he will also be deported to Bangladesh. Out that fear he tried to commit suicide,” Dey added.

The BJP legislator from Cooch Behar (Uttar) constituency, Sukumar Roy, said that even if the fear factor prompted Sheikh to attempt suicide, Trinamool Congress is responsible for that since the party is responsible for spreading a false sense of fear among people about the SIR.

On Tuesday, a 57-year-old man, identified as Pradeep Kar, committed suicide at Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, reportedly out of fear of being affected by a possible National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal.

BJP had already raised doubts about whether the suicide note recovered from near his body was actually written by the deceased person and also demanded a proper investigation into the actual reason behind the suicide.

On Tuesday, both the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress’s General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP and the Union government of spreading a sense of fear and division by using NRC as a tool, where people are often made to doubt their own right to existence, the reflection of which was felt in the suicide of Kar.

Since the beginning, Trinamool Congress leadership had been describing the SIR as an indirect ploy by the BJP and the Union government to impose the NRC in West Bengal.

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Crime

NCB Mumbai Seizes Over 1.3 kg Of Mephedrone, Arrests 4 Including Kingpin

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Mumbai: On the basis of actionable intelligence, NCB Mumbai had intercepted a person at Pune on 18/19.09.2025 from whom 502 gms Mephedrone was seized. During immediate follow-up, 839 gms Mephedrone was seized from possession of another drug associate at home of the kingpin & his wife located in Mumbai. 

During investigation, the kingpin and his wife were identified to be operating the drug syndicate and were on the run since then and travelled across multiple states to dodge the movement trail. However, after intensive follow up action they were located at a holiday resort in Goa. On 25.10.2025, NCB team intercepted the kingpin & his wife from Goa based resort after which they were arrested.

The kingpin is a habitual drug offender wherein 03 NDPS cases against him registered previously by NCB & Rajasthan Police. Further, he has 07 criminal cases registered by Mumbai Police. He is also declared as “Tadipar” by Police, for which he has been ordered to stay out of Mumbai Municipal limits.  

This seizure highlights the committed effort of NCB in safeguarding public health and ensuring strict enforcement against the organised drug syndicates. The Narcotics Control Bureau reaffirms its commitment to disrupt drug trafficking and allied criminal activities to achieve the vision of Nasha Mukt Bharat by 2047.

To fight against drug trafficking, NCB seeks active support of the citizens. Any person can share information related to sale of narcotics by calling on MANAS- National Narcotics Helpline Toll Free Number – 1933. The identity of the informer is kept confidential.

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Crime

Mumbai Crime: High-Tech CCTV Cameras Help Chembur Police Nab Burglar Red-Handed Inside Sarvodaya Estate House

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Mumbai: High-tech security cameras installed in a house at Sarvodaya Estate, Chembur, helped police catch a burglar red-handed in the early hours of October 26. The accused has been identified as Nikhil Anil Kamble, a resident of Vashinaka. The Chembur police have registered a case and arrested him.

According to the FIR, Ravindra Kashinath Churi, 72, a retired employee of India Waterproofing Company, resides at Sarvodaya Estate with his wife Sushma, 66, and son Jay, 35. The family usually spends the day at their Sarvodaya Estate home but stays overnight at their residence in Ramkrishna Apartment, Postal Colony Road, Chembur.

For security, Churi had installed advanced CCTV cameras at his Sarvodaya Estate home. As usual, on the evening of October 25, around 6 p.m., the family locked the house and left for Ramkrishna Apartment. The next morning, at around 5:45 a.m., Jay received an alert on his mobile phone from the security system, indicating movement inside the house.

Upon checking the camera footage, Jay informed his parents that someone had broken into the house. Ravindra Churi and his son rushed to the spot and found the main door locked from both inside and outside. Upon inspection, they noticed that the kitchen window grill was partially broken and moved aside, confirming that a burglar was inside.

Jay immediately called the police helpline (100). Acting swiftly, a Chembur police team reached the scene and, with assistance from the fire brigade, broke open the door. Inside, they found Nikhil Kamble hiding and caught him red-handed.

Although no valuables were found in Kamble’s possession, the house was ransacked. The police took him into custody and registered an FIR under Sections 331(4) and 62 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) Act, based on Ravindra Churi’s complaint, charging Kamble with breaking the window grill and attempting burglary.

The Chembur police are conducting further investigation into the case.

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