ED officials raid diamond showroom in Ghaziabad mall

Ghaziabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday raided a diamond showroom at Shipra Mall in Ghaziabad, in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank scam involving around Rs 11, 400 crores, said officials of the agency.

Ghaziabad Police said that the raid was carried out at Diamond World showroom in Shipra Mall and the owner of the showroom Sunil Agarwal has been taken to custody for questioning.

ED officials also questioned the other staff working at showroom. Sources say that the showroom raided has their links with diamond merchant Nirav Modi, the accused behind the PNB scam.

However, officials refused to share any details with the media, but said that their investigations are underway and once they are done, details will be shared.

The agency also raided 40 more locations in several cities across the country on Monday, including 10 locations in Mumbai, six each in Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, four in Chennai, three in Surat, two each in Bihar, Lucknow, Jalandhar and Hyderabad and one in Delhi.

On Thursday, the investigative agency registered an FIR under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and conducted raids after allegations of fraud surfaced against billionaire Nirav Modi and his Mumbai-based firms – Diamonds R Us, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds.

An ED spokesperson said that till Saturday, diamonds, Gold and Jewelleries worth Rs 5,674 have been seized during the raids conducted at over 100 locations.

The action is based on a CBI case registered against Nirav Modi on Wednesday in connection with a fraud involving Rs 6,498 crore.