Britain's former Home Secretary Priti Patel has said she was "appalled and horrified" that fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi remains in the United Kingdom despite her signing his extradition order to India in 2021, after a court found a prima facie case against him.
Speaking on The Daily Telegraph's podcast, Patel alleged that New Delhi has been reluctant to accept thousands of illegal Indian migrants from the UK because London has failed to extradite Modi, who is wanted in India to face trial on fraud and money laundering charges linked to the estimated $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam.
The Indian-origin Conservative MP, who currently serves as the party's shadow foreign secretary, further claimed that Indian authorities are "hugely angry" over the British government's inability to extradite the businessman accused in one of India's biggest banking fraud cases.
"If our system were judicious and doing the right thing, rather than tying itself up in process and excuses, he should not be in this country," Patel was quoted as saying.
"I'm actually pretty appalled and horrified that he's still here, and I have to say, I suspect that really makes the Indian government feel quite demoralised about even working with us," she added.
Reflecting on her tenure as home secretary in the Conservative government from 2019 to 2022, Patel said the unresolved case complicated negotiations with India, as New Delhi "would really push back" on accepting visa overstayers.
"I had a hell of a challenge getting them [India] to sign off on receiving failed asylum seekers... and I'm convinced it's because we had this high-profile case [of Nirav Modi] and we had another high-profile case at the time and until they [India] saw action and movement on those, guess what, they had some leverage over us, which was terribly frustrating," she said.
Patel made the remarks during The Diamond King podcast series, which recounts The Daily Telegraph's investigation that uncovered the fugitive diamond merchant living in a luxury apartment in London, ultimately leading to his arrest by Scotland Yard in March 2019.
