On Facebook, several users are posting the purported statements said to be made by the fugitive businessman Nirav Modi before the London Court. And here in India, as elections are approaching, the supporters of the two major national parties i.e., the BJP and the Congress are casting aspersions on one another over Nirav Modi’s fleeing from India. Let’s try to analyze the claims made in the posts.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Claim: Nirav Modi stated before the London court that he didn’t leave India but was threatened by the leaders of a political party to escape and run away from the country.
Fact: Nirav Modi’s London Court proceedings were covered by almost all the leading newspapers in India. In the article on The Times of India which covered the same, there was no mention of any such statements made by Nirav Modi as claimed in the FB posts. Hence, the claims made in the posts stand FALSE.
All this propaganda started with the tweet on 31st March by Gaurav Pradhan, a BJP supporter. He alleged that Nirav Modi testified that he had bribed Congress leaders to flee India. In his tweet, he went on to question the Congress leaders regarding their involvement in Nirav Modi’s fleeing from India. Another version of the story was doing rounds earlier questioning the BJP’s involvement in Nirav Modi’s fleeing from India, which was proven false.
Nirav Modi’s London Court proceedings took place twice, first on 21st March,2019 and the second one on 29th March,2019. He was questioned in the court only on the 21st March hearing. It was covered by almost all the leading newspapers in India. As per the Times of India story which covered the same, there was no mention of any statements made by Nirav Modi regarding the threats by the Indian political leaders as the reason to flee from India.
Hence, Nirav Modi hasn’t stated to London Court that he was threatened by leaders of Indian political party and that is the reson to flee from the country. Since this is election time, the two political rival parties i.e., the BJP and Congress are spreading this misinformation to gain political mileage.
