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Nirav Modi's arrest a 'got-up match', says Mamata

Kolkata: Calling Nirav Modi's arrest "an election gimmick", Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the timing of his arrest on Wednesday and termed it to be a "got-up match".

"This is a ploy of the BJP. The credit must go to the London Telegraph journalist who exposed Nirav Modi. It is a 'got-up match'. No credit goes to the BJP government," Banerjee told reporters.

Calling the businessman's arrest a "strike" by the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Trinamool Congress supremo said there would be a number of such 'strikes' by the BJP during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Chupa rustom", Banerjee said: "This match and more matches are to come. Before elections, there will be two or four strikes."

Replying to questions from the Press at Nabanna on Wednesday evening, the Chief Minister questioned the timing of the arrest.

"Daal main kuchh kala hai (There is something fishy going on). Why has Nirav Modi's arrest taken place right before the elections? People will not give the BJP credit for this because their expiry date is over," she added.

Nirav Modi was arrested on Tuesday by the Scotland Yard, two days after the Westminster Court issued a warrant against him.

He was produced before the Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, where he contested his extradition to India.

His bail plea was rejected by the court. District Judge Marie Mallon, presiding over the hearing, said she was not inclined to accept his bail plea due the "high value amount" attached to the allegations against him and that he would have "every incentive" to evade surrendering before the court.

Nirav Modi and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, are the main accused in the PNB scam and they both left India before the details of the fraud came to light in January 2018.

The London court had last week issued an arrest warrant against Modi in response to a request by the Enforcement Directorate for his extradition in a money laundering case.

The news of the arrest sent ripples of excitement through the ruling BJP which described it as "a major victory". and dared the Opposition Congress to question the developments… ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. However, many legal, strategic and international affairs observers felt that this is a "premature over-reaction".

They pointed out that it would take a long time for Nirav Modi to actually face the extradition process initiated by the Indian government and that actual extradition would take at least two years, if at all possible. Quoting Sarosh Zaiwalla, Founder-Senior Partner at Zaiwalla & Co. LLP, UK, IANS said that issuing the arrest warrant is just a first step of the legal process to extradite Modi.

Zaiwalla noted that Vijay Mallya was arrested and bailed out nearly two months later when his extradition hearings began. "Nirav Modi will be subjected to a re-run of the Mallya case proceedings, starting from being directed to Westminister Magistrate, taken into provisional custody, applying for bail and the then the court will hear his plea."

After the court rules for Modi's extradition, complications may arise as Modi has reportedly acquired citizenship of Belgium, a European Union country. As Brexit has been delayed until at least June 30, Modi will now enjoy the legal rights of an EU resident in the UK.

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