CBI try for Blue Corner Notice against Jatin Mehta

Mumbai: After probe agencies failed to secure an Interpol red corner notice (RCN) against Jatin Mehta, investigators are now trying to secure a blue corner notice (BCN) against the Winsome Diamonds promoter accused in a bank fraud case.

RCN and BCN are among seven types of notices issued by the international police organisation. While an RCN requires provisional detention of the person named in the notice, a BCN is used to locate, identify or obtain information in a criminal investigation.

“Interpol has recently communicated that the RCN request for Mehta has been denied, following which a request for a BCN has been made with them. While the RCN is a more effective notice, a BCN can at least help us locate the country where he is holed up and we can subsequently follow it up with an extradition request,” said an official privy to the matter.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing the more than Rs 6,500 crore fraud case against the diamond merchant, is also the nodal agency in India for Interpol.

In 2016, Mehta’s company, Winsome Diamonds, was declared a “wilful defaulter” by banks. Mehta and his wife had allegedly fled the country in 2013 and reportedly acquired the citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis the same year.

The CBI has registered more than n10 cases against Mehta. In June 2018, it filed a charge sheet against 21 people including Mehta, his wife Sonia, two former chairmen and managing directors of Canara Bank and 15 public servants. In the same month, the agency wrote to Interpol seeking an RCN against him, but the request was denied earlier this year.

The agency has also written to Interpol seeking information on Mehta’s alleged travel to London in June 2018. Investigators want to ascertain if he had returned to the Caribbean nation, so as to decide on an extradition request.

“His aircraft record shows that he travelled to London in June 2018 but there is no clarity if he has returned to St Kitts and Nevis; information on the same is now being sought,” said one of the people. “Once there is clarity … the extradition request will be sent accordingly. While we have an extradition treaty with the UK, for St Kitts and Nevis, the extradition request would be sent invoking the provisions of Commonwealth schemes for international cooperation in criminal matters, which is binding to all commonwealth nations including St Kitts,” added the official.





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