PNB scam: Woman employee of my firm arrested illegally, alleges Nirav Modi in letter to ED

Diamond trader Nirav Modi, who is at the centre of the Rs 12,700-crore scam at the Punjab National Bank (PNB), has alleged that he was right in being concerned about the “unfairness of process”, going by the way a woman employee of his firm was arrested.

Modi, against whom a special court today issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW), wrote two letters to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in response to summonses last month.

“A lady executive (Kavita Mankikar) of my organisation has been arrested by the CBI illegally, in complete violation of the Criminal Procedure Code. And when the liberty of a female is not been priced (sic) by the investigating agencies, my concern for my safety and for the unfairness in the process is not in any manner misplaced,” Modi wrote to Archana Salaye, Assistant Director of ED, on February 26.

Mankikar’s lawyer had claimed that she was arrested at 8 PM, while as per the law, a woman cannot be arrested after sunset.

Modi wrote two letters to the ED, one on February 22 and another four days later. The ED had issued summonses to him on February 15, February 17 and February 22, asking him to appear before the agency.

However, Modi, believed …read more