Punjab National Bank Shares Rise After Nirav Modi's Arrest In London

Shares of state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) rose on Wednesday after the arrest of fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi in London. The stock of the Delhi-based Punjab National Bank rose as much as 4 per cent on the BSE during the session, before closing with a gain of 3.37 per cent for the day at Rs. 93.55. The spike in the PNB shares came after the UK police said fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi was arrested in London and produced in the Westminster Magistrate's Court.

Nirav Modi is wanted in the Rs 14,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.

Indian government had asked Britain in August to extradite Nirav Modi, one of the main suspects charged in the India's biggest banking fraud loan fraud.

The 48-year-old billionaire had skipped the country last year, weeks before the detection of the Punjab National Bank scam. Nirav Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi, who was also wanted in the case, was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda on January 15, 2018.

Punjab National Bank, the country's second-largest state-run bank, in 2018 said that two jewellery groups headed by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi had defrauded it by raising credit from other Indian banks using illegal guarantees issued by rogue PNB staff.

He was picked up yesterday from a metro station Holborn, central London, said officers in the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the case against him.

(With agency inputs)