Nirav Modi fears he will either be killed or commit suicide in India, court hears

Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi who is wanted in India to face charges for allegedly scamming Punjab National Bank of Rs 13,000 crore — has told psychiatrists at the London prison where he is currently detained that he will either get killed or commit suicide if extradited back to India but, either way, he will ‘die in prison'.

Nirav (51) is currently fighting a lower court's decision to extradite him to India in the London high ourt.

Professor Andrew Forrester, his psychiatrist at Wandsworth prison, told the high court that whilst he accepted that all ligature points would be removed from Barrack 12 in Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai, where Nirav will be held, he has “known cases where people died by hanging from the door handles and taps in prisons”.The court heard that Nirav told psychiatrists he only thinks of “cutting and hanging” if extradited and he expects to die in prison in India, that his illness is so serious he has been transferred to hospital twice and been on suicide watch in prison four times, and that he suffers from feelings of worthlessness, pointlessness and hopelessness.

“He is concerned he may get killed in India,” Forrester, who has diagnosed Nirav with “moderate depression”, said.

“He constitutes a suicide risk at present. If extradited suicide is likely to become a substantial or high risk,” he said, owing to his depression and the substantial distance with his family. He also pointed out Nirav's mother had taken her own life. “Things will happen in India that will contribute to this risk,” Forrester said.