I-T dept says Nirav, Choksi files are safe

Days after a fire ravaged the Income Tax (I-T) office at the Scindia House in Mumbai, the department on Monday clarified that no files related to the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi case have been damaged.

Nirav and his uncle Choksi, both leading diamantaires, are absconding after a scam involving the Punjab National Bank (PNB) came to light.

Reacting to media reports on the fire, the I-T department tweeted: "News reports appearing in some sections of the media alleging that records/documents relating to the investigation of Nirav Modi/Mehul Choksi have been destroyed in the Scindia House fire in ITOffice, Mumbai, are completely false & misdirected @PMOIndia @FinMinIndia @arunjaitley @adhia03 (sic)".

"It is clarified that records/documents of the ongoing investigation of Nirav Modi/Mehul Choksi case had already been transferred to assessment units housed in other buildings as part of the assessment process. Apprehensions of loss/damage to records (Scindia House, IT Office fire) misplaced (sic)," it said.

On Friday evening, a fire broke out in the third floor of the Scindia House at the Ballard Estate area of Mumbai. The first floor houses the I-T investigation wing. The cooling operations continued till Saturday. Several files were damaged in the fire.