ST. JOHN’S, November 9, 2026 — British police are under pressure to investigate an alleged kidnapping plot involving UK-based suspects accused of abducting a fugitive diamond tycoon from Antigua on behalf of the Indian government. The National Crime Agency has been urged to interview the suspects more than five years after the alleged abduction.
The Fugitive and the Fraud
Mehul Choksi, 67, is a diamond merchant wanted in India over a £1.3 billion banking fraud. Indian authorities describe it as the largest financial scam in the country’s history. The allegations centre on Punjab National Bank, where Choksi is accused of colluding with bank employees to obtain fraudulent loans for his jewellery empire in March 2018. He strongly denies the charges.
Months before the charges were made public, Choksi moved to the Caribbean. He relinquished his Indian citizenship and purchased citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda in 2017. That passport became a shield: Antigua has no extradition treaty with India, allowing Choksi to thwart repeated Indian extradition attempts for years.
The Alleged Honeytrap and Abduction
Choksi alleges that his protection evaporated on May 23, 2021, when he was lured to an apartment near his home in Antigua. According to court filings in Antigua and Barbuda, the lure was Barbara Jarabik, a London-based property consultant who had befriended him in August 2020. Choksi describes the operation as a “honeytrap.”
He claims that once inside the apartment, he was tasered, bound to a wheelchair, and loaded onto a yacht bound for Dominica. On board, court documents state he was tortured and beaten by two Birmingham-based men: Gurjit Singh Bhandal, 55, and Gurmit Singh, 68. Think of it like a rendition operation, but allegedly carried out by private operatives rather than uniformed agents. The practical upshot was moving Choksi from a country where he had legal protection to one where he had none.
Why Dominica Mattered
Dominica was the key to the alleged plan. Unlike Antigua, Choksi had no right to remain in Dominica and no citizenship protection there. Days after his arrival, an Indian delegation allegedly flew to the island to arrange his deportation directly to Delhi. The plan might have succeeded if whistleblowers had not alerted Choksi’s legal team. His lawyers located him battered and bruised in a Dominican cell and secured his release before the deportation could be executed.
The Alleged Architect and the UK Suspects
Choksi alleges the plot was hatched by Gurdip Bath, an Indian-born diplomat who holds citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis. Bath served as the commercial attaché for St Kitts and Nevis to the UK for 14 years and owns an £8 million mansion in Mayfair, near the Ritz. He has met King Charles in that capacity. Bath strongly denies any involvement.
Flight manifests filed by Choksi’s legal team show that Jarabik, Bath, Bhandal, and both Singhs were all in Antigua at the time of the alleged abduction. Despite this, the National Crime Agency has not interviewed the suspects or the alleged victim in the more than five years since the incident. Oliver Laurence, CEO of Periculum Security Group and Choksi’s lead investigator on the kidnapping claim, briefed the NCA over two years ago. He told the Daily Mail the inaction is “incomprehensible” and warned that links to senior political figures outside the UK “should rightly worry anyone who respects the rule of law.”
The Legal Battle and Diplomatic Questions
Choksi is now suing the Antiguan police for failing to investigate his alleged abduction. A crunch hearing in that civil case is scheduled for today in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The case raises uncomfortable questions for British authorities: whether the NCA’s reluctance to act stems from a desire to avoid a diplomatic fallout with New Delhi. For now, the alleged suspects remain at large in the UK, and the court in St. John’s prepares to hear the next argument in a case that spans three continents.
Sources
- Police urged to probe 'honeytrap plot' to kidnap diamond tycoon
- Cathy Williams
- Queen Camilla wears heirloom turquoise and diamond earrings in the Caribbean
- Diamonds International
Photo: Levi Meir Clancy / Unsplash (Unsplash License)
