NewDelhi: Rahul Gandhi and Congress MPs on Tuesday protested against the recent PNB scam in which jeweller Nirav Modi has been accused of cheating the nationalised bank. Accusing BJP of shielding Nirav, Rahul Gandhi said the guilty must be punished for their deeds.
On February 14, PNB had disclosed that it had detected fraudulent transactions with a financial implication of about Rs 11,400 crore and the matter had been referred to law enforcement agencies for the recovery. Investigative agencies began a probe against Nirav Modi and Geetanjali Gems promoter Mehul Choksi. Both have since left India. Rahul Gandhi has questioned the government for ‘allowing’ Nirav Modi to flee and has slammed the silence of top leadership in the matter. “This Rs 22,000 Crore scam cannot have been done without a high-level protection. It must have been known by the people in government beforehand otherwise it is not possible,” he said.
The war of words between Congress and BJP after the scam came to light has only intensified in recent days. While the Congress President has said BJP is allowing scamsters to flee the country before any concrete action can be taken against them, BJP has hit back saying financial wrongdoings happened during the Congress rule before 2014. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday even said that Congress had laid out landmines during UPA 1 and 2, and that these were exploding on them now.
Meanwhile, whereabouts of Nirav Modi remains a matter of speculation and he has refused summon notices issued by investigative agencies. “We have businesses abroad and cannot join investigations,” he had replied to CBI.
Bureau Report
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