A video made by stitching together photos and clips of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi and leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party is viral with false captions claiming that Modi had admitted in a London court that he had not fled the country but was forced to escape by BJP leaders.
BOOM searched for news reports but found none attributing any such statement to the fugitive diamond merchant.
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The 90-second-long video shows several photos and video clips of Nirav Modi as well as BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Sambit Patra. A Hindi voiceover with the video says that Nirav Modi has admitted in a London court that he did not leave the country on his own but was forced to leave on the directions of BJP leaders.
The voiceover further says that Modi has admitted that Rs 456 Crore commission was taken by BJP leaders in helping him flee the country. The video further says that Modi's statement has raised a storm in BJP and Sambit Patra has been sent to London.
Facebook user Kuldeep Chaudhary shared the video with a Hindi caption reading 'Chowkidar was the thief Nirav Modi has told the court himself'.
(Hindi: चौकीदार ही चोर था नीरव मोदी ने खुद ही बता दिया कोर्ट को। #चौकीदार_ही_चोर_है)
Chaudhary's Facebook page says he is a senior Congress leader.
Click here to view the video.
Fact Check
BOOM checked news reports about any such statement made by Nirav Modi recently linking his exit from the country to BJP leaders but found none.
Nirav Modi was arrested in London in 2019. A report published in the Times of India on March 21, 2019 stated that 'Nirav Modi was arrested on Tuesday when a teller at Metro Bank in London, where he had gone to open an account, called the police'.
The report further stated that Modi was produced before the Westminster Magistrates' Court later, where he contested his extradition to India. However, the district judge Marie Mallon denied bail to him. He was remanded in custody till March 29.
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Similar claims were viral on Twitter in 2021 as a statement attributed to Nirav Modi. The tweets read '"I did not flee from India, I was expelled. My share of Rs 13,000 crore is 32%, the rest is taken by @BJP4India leaders." — Nirav Modi in London court. The CBI is silent ..........'.
Click here and here to see the posts.
Who Is Nirav Modi?
The fugitive Indian diamond merchant has been accused of a 1.8 billion dollar fraud by the Punjab National Bank. He had reportedly left India in January 2018. Modi was arrested in the UK on March 20, 2019. He was denied bail by the Westminster Magistrates' court and had been sent to custody till March 29.
On December 14, 2021 the London High Court had heard Modi's appeal on the grounds of his mental health against extradition to India. According to a report published in the Indian Express the hearing had ended with a timetable to wrap up the appeal in 2022.
