Mumbai: 11 cars belonging to Nirav Modi auctioned for Rs 3.29 crore

Nirav Modi

Government-owned Metal Scrap Trading Corporation Ltd (MSTC) e-auctioned 13 cars on Thursday belonging to fugitive diamond merchants Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksithrough on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). ED confiscated 11 cars belonging to Nirav Modi and two cars owned by his uncle, Mehul Choksi after the duo absconded from the country. The cars were successfully bided for a total amount of Rs 3.29 crore. The cars auctioned by Metal Scrap Trading Corporation included one Porsche and one Rolls Royce.

A Gujarat court had declared fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi as a "proclaimed absconder" in a customs duty evasion case filed in March and ordered him to appear in person. In a public notification issued earlier in the day in newspapers, and also sent to government and police departments, Nirav Modi was declared proclaimed absconder under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which could make it difficult for him to secure an anticipatory bail.

In Surat, Chief Judicial Magistrate B.H. Kapadia accepted a plea made by the Customs Department on August 8 and asked Nirav Modi, who is the prime accused in several other cases, including the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, to appear before the court. The case in the Surat Court was filed by Deputy Customs Commissioner R. K. Tiwary against Nirav Modi and three of his firms -- Firestar Diamond International Pvt Ltd, Firestar International Pvt Ltd, and Radashir Jewellery Co Pvt Ltd.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Diwakar Sharma and agencies