PNB Scam: ED Officials Raid Five Jewellery Stores In Twin Cities

Bhubaneswar: Enforcement Directorate (ED) of the Crime Branch on Tuesday conducted raids on five major jewellery stores in twin cities Bhubaneswar and Cuttack in connection with Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

“Simultaneous raids were carried out at five major jewellery stores, including Lalchand, Khimji and a shop located at Pal Heights shopping mall in Bhubaneswar. During the search, a number of documents and computers were scrutinised to establish diamond merchant Nirav Modi’s links with the gold traders in the twin cities”, an official informed.

Earlier in the day, assets worth Rs 5,716 crore was seized from the Mumbai residence of Nirav Modi.

On Sunday, similar raids were also conducted by the anti-corruption sleuths at more than 45 locations in 15 cities across the country including Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Srinagar, Goa, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Guwahati and Patna.

Recently, a complaint was lodged by the PNB against the billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi and his jewellery company, alleging fraudulent transactions to the tune of Rs 11,400 crore.