British police urged to probe UK-based suspects who 'planned a honeytrap plot to kidnap a diamond tycoon in the Caribbean... on India's orders'

Police are under pressure to investigate an alleged British kidnap gang accused of a 'honeytrap plot' to abduct a fugitive diamond tycoon from the Caribbean.The National Crime Agency (NCA) has been urged to interview the UK-based suspects as the Mail launches an investigative podcast into the audacious 'conspiracy'.Mehul Choksi, 67, claims he was abducted from Antigua as part of a covert Indian operation to bring him 'forcibly' back to Delhi.He was lured to an apartment near his home by glamorous London-based property consultant Barbara Jarabik, according to a court claim in Antigua and Barbuda.There, he alleges he was tasered, bound to a wheelchair and loaded onto a yacht bound for Dominica - which he details exclusively on Mail podcast Heists, Scams and Lies: The Billion Dollar Honeytrap.On board, court filings state he was tortured and beaten by Birmingham-based Gurjit Singh Bhandal, 55, and Gurmit Singh, 68.Days later an Indian delegation flew in to deport him to his homeland where he is wanted over a £1.3 billion banking fraud - the largest financial scam in the country's history.Mr Choksi had bought Antiguan citizenship which he had used to thwart attempts by India to extradite him - a protection he did not have in Dominica. But after the alleged kidnapping whistleblowers alerted his lawyers who found him battered and bruised in a cell before they secured his release. Mehul Choksi claims he was abducted from Antigua as part of a covert Indian operation to bring him forcibly back to Delhi Glamorous London-based property consultant Barbara Jarabik is accused of acting as a 'honeytrap' Choksi's lawyers found him battered and bruised in a cell before they secured his releaseMr Choksi is suing Antiguan police for failing to investigate his alleged abduction and a crunch hearing is scheduled today in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.He has alleged the plan was hatched by Gurdip Bath, an Indian-born diplomat who has citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis and has met with King Charles.Mr Bath - who has acted as St Kitts commercial attaché to the UK for 14 years and owns an £8million Mayfair mansion near the Ritz - strongly denies involvement.Yet the Mail understands the NCA has still not interviewed the suspects or the victim over five years after the alleged kidnap on May 23, 2021.It has sparked questions over whether Britain does not want to risk a diplomatic fallout with Delhi over the matter.Oliver Laurence, CEO of Periculum Security Group, a UK-based private intelligence firm which is retained by Mr Choksi as his lead investigator on the alleged kidnap, hit out at the inaction.He said: 'It has been more than two years since I briefed the National Crime Agency on Mr Choki's kidnapping.'To date no action has been taken, and yet we have alleged suspects in the UK with not a care in the world.'It is incomprehensible that no action would be taken when there is as much evidence as I believe there to be.'My worry is that there are links to senior political figures outside of the UK, which should rightly worry anyone who respects the rule of law.'Mr Choksi was accused of colluding with employees of the Punjab National Bank in an alleged £1.3billion fraud to obtain dodgy loans for his jewellery empire in March 2018. He strongly denies the allegations.Months before the charges dropped he had moved to the Caribbean, relinquished his Indian citizenship and gained a passport for Antigua which has no extradition treaty with Delhi.He has alleged the suspects plotted to kidnap him to Dominica where he had no right to remain and could be deported to Delhi.Ms Jarabik befriended Mr Choksi in August 2020. Mr Choksi's legal team have filed flight manifests that show she was in Antigua at the time of the abduction - as were Mr Bath, Mr Singh, Mr Singh Bhandal and Mr Singh.Passenger documents show Mr Singh and Mr Singh Bhandal boarded a yacht which had been docked near Mr Choksi's home and a berth for 'a passenger who is wheelchair-bound' had been requested.They were on board when the vessel set sail for Dominica on the day Mr Choksi says he was kidnapped - but insist the fugitive diamond tycoon was not with them. Gurdip Bath, an Indian-born diplomat who has met with King Charles, is alleged to have hatched the plotHours later, flight documents show Mr Bath and Ms Jarabik along with another English suspect were the only passengers on a private jet from Antigua to Dominica.None of the individuals accused by Mr Choksi is a party to his case against the Antiguan authorities, so cannot file a formal response defending themselves.However, they have all strenuously denied the claims. Mr Bath's representatives have said he was in the region on a business trip with Ms Jarabik but does not know the other alleged suspects and has never met Mr Choksi.He said he has 'no association with any Indian government-owned intelligence service'.Ms Jarabik denied involvement and said Mr Choksi was obsessed with her. She said she was with him but left several hours before the alleged kidnap.Mr Singh said his presence in the region was 'purely coincidental', branded the allegations as 'baseless and fake', and said he is willing to assist the NCA and Antiguan authorities.Mr Singh Bhandal said he had been on a sailing trip and had never heard of Mr Choksi before being accused, nor had they met Ms Jarabik.Mr Choksi, who is now in prison in Belgium fighting extradition to India, recently dropped a London High Court case against the suspects after he failed to pay £677,000 in securities for the defendants. Interpol arrest warrants for three of the suspects have also been removed.An NCA spokesman said: 'We do not routinely confirm nor deny the existence of investigations or those subject to them.'Listen to the first two episodes of The Billion Dollar Honeytrap now wherever you get your podcasts, or subscribe to The Crime Desk to binge the whole series.