Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne while speaking to a local radio station on Sunday said the Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi may have taken his girlfriend to Dominica on a romantic trip and got caught.  

Choksi was apprehended in Dominica on May 27 after he went missing from the neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda on May 23. The diamantaire’s lawyer alleged that his client was abducted and beaten by Dominican police which the latter has denied. 

“In the case of Dominica, the issue of extradition does not arise, it is a case of deportation as he is in the country illegally. He has no status in the country and therefore has no constitutional or legal protection,” said Browne as reported by Antigua Newsroom.

“So Dominica has a free hand. In fact, Mehul Choksi may have made a mistake in going to Dominica. The information that we’re getting now is that he may have taken his girlfriend to Dominica probably to date and have a good time and so on…and got caught. That would have been a monumental error because he is a citizen here in Antigua, we could not have deported him,” he added. 

Browne, who had earlier urged Dominica to deport Choksi back to India instead of sending him back to Antigua, where is protected under the law reiterated the same, adding, that ultimately Choksi’s citizenship will be revoked as he withheld information regarding his status in India. This would require time as there is a legal process to be followed, he added.