ED team in Singapore to track down Nirav Modi

In a bid to tighten the noose around fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, wanted in India in a Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, a three-member Enforcement Directorate (ED) team has reached Singapore.

"Our team is in Singapore to ready the case against Nirav Modi," a highly placed ED source said.

The team will meet the authorities in Singapore to present India's case. The visit follows the case it registered against Nirav Modi earlier this year following three different cases filed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Most of the accused are common to the cases. The fraud was committed from 2011 to 17.

On Wednesday, the ED approached a special court in Mumbai seeking to declare Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi as fugitives as they fled from India a month before they were named in the fraud case.

Meanwhile, the Interpol Washington has said that absconding diamantaire Nirav Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi is not in the US.

According to government sources, the Interpol Washington responded to India's request last Wednesday stating that Choksi is not in the US. India has written back to the Interpol seeking further details of Choksi's whereabouts, the sources added.

A special CBI court on Monday granted bail to Nitin Sahi, an accused in the PNB scam.

Nitin Sahi, a former assistant finance manager with Choksi's Gitanjali Group, was granted bail by Special CBI judge J C Jagdale.

Confirming the development, Sahi's lawyer Sanjay Abot said he was granted bail on a surety bond of Rs 1 lakh.