CBI probe ordered into South Koreans escaping house arrest, fleeing country
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday ordered the case against two South Koreans, who escaped house arrest and fled the country, to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It also directed the CBI to submit a report by January 25, 2022.
The order was passed by a division bench, comprising Justice PN Prakash and R Hemalatha. They were hearing a petition filed by the escaped South Koreans—Choe Jae Won (41) and Choi Yong Suk (46)—when they were in the country. They had challenged the order to shift them to the foreigners’ detention centre in Tiruchy. But they fleed the country in November, before the case came up for hearing.
When the matter came before the judges, the government assistant public prosecutor R Muniyapparaj submitted that Choe Jae Won was the general manager and Choi Yong Suk was the managing director of Chowel India Private Limited. They were arrested in 2019 on charges of GST evasion to the tune of Rs 40 crore. He further noted that the duo escaped from the police custody and the country through Manipur in November. “The Korean nationals escaped from the house arrest using forged Aadhaar card and other documents. We doubt that foreign diplomats of their nation facilitated the escape,” the assistant public prosecutor submitted.
On hearing the submission, the judges ordered the Balur police to surrender the case documents to the CBI. The bench asked the CBI to probe the case and file a status report on January 25.
While the authorities decided to place them under a foreigners’ detention centre, Tiruchy, the two accused approached the Supreme Court and got relief to stay in their house under police protection. Besides, the Balur Police had registered a case against the duo for allegedly trying to escape from the country.
When the duo filed an application before the HC in October seeking anticipatory bail, Justice M Dhandapani had declined their petition. However, the duo fleed the country in November.