The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=enforcement+directorate">Enforcement Directorate</a> questioned former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of defunct <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=kingfisher+airlines">Kingfisher Airlines</a>, A Raghunathan, in connection with its <keyword id="6355008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="money-laundering">money laundering</keyword> investigation in the alleged default of over Rs 900 crore loan from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=idbi+bank">IDBI bank</a>. 
 The ED summoned officials of <keyword id="6357560" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IDBI-Bank">IDBI bank</keyword> and <keyword id="6373962" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kingfisher-Airlines">Kingfisher Airlines</keyword> under the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=PMLA">Prevention of Money Laundering Act</a> (PMLA). They were asked to submit information about their personal finances and <keyword id="6354751" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Income-Tax">Income Tax</keyword> Returns (ITRs) of last five years to the investigators. 
 
"We had summoned Raghunathan and he appeared before us for questioning this morning. His questioning is important to throw light on various financial transactions, as many of them are in his personal domain," said an ED official. 
 
In his earlier statement, Raghunathan blamed <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=VIJAY+MALLYA">Vijay Mallya</a> for the financial crisis that befell Kingfisher Airlines. 
 
The ED recently registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on a CBI FIR registered last year. The agency is also investigating the overall financial structure of Kingfisher Airlines and if any possible kick backs were made. 
 
The ED has pressed charges under various sections of the PMLA against Mallya and others named in the CBI complaint. 
 
The CBI had booked Mallya, director of Kingfisher Airlines, the company, Raghunathan and unknown officials of IDBI Bank in its FIR alleging that the loan was sanctioned in violation of norms regarding credit limits. 
 
The ED is looking into the "proceeds of crime" that would have been generated using the slush funds of the alleged loan fraud and it is also probing if some of this amount was sent abroad illegally, they said.

ED wants to quiz the ex-CFO of now defunct, Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines

In a big move, market watchdog <keyword id="19901201" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SEBI" source="keywords">SEBI</keyword> has banned <keyword id="19902194" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Anil-Ambani" source="keywords">Anil Ambani</keyword> from participating in the securities markets for 5 years, for diverting funds from <keyword id="20367971" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Home-Finance" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Reliance Home Finance" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Reliance Home Finance">Reliance Home Finance</keyword> (RHF). This means that the debt-ridden Ambani scion will not be able to serve as key managerial personnel, or director in any listed company for the next 5 years. Additionally, he will also have to pay Rs 25 crore as a penalty. Along with Ambani, 24 others, which include former employees of RHF, have also been banned from trading in the securities market for a five year period. RHF itself has been barred from the securities market for 6 months, and has also been penalized Rs 6 lakh. <h2>Not the first time</h2>In its order, SEBI found Ambani guilty of fraud and channeling away RHF funds under the guise of loans by lending them to entities connected to him. This was despite the company's board of directors repeatedly advising to stop such practices. Ambani continued to orchestrate the fraud, thanks to his key position as the chairman of ADA Group, and also because of his shareholding in RHFL's holding company. In July this year, SEBI had barred the infamous fugitive Vijay Mallya from trading in Indian markets for three years, when it was found that Mallya illegally routed funds via foreign banks and companies to spruce up the share value of his own companies and profiting from the same, aka stock rigging. While all his assets in India are frozen, he also cannot serve as the director of any Indian listed company for this duration. But this is not the first time SEBI has debarred people from the markets. Last year, SEBI had barred Mohammad Nasiruddin Ansari, popularly known as <keyword id="22893256" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Baap-of-Charts" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Baap of Charts" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Baap of Charts">Baap of Charts</keyword>, after he was f0und doling out misleading stock-related advise, while pretending to run educative courses. SEBI also asked Ansari to refund Rs 17.2 crore he had collected under the guise of fees. Another popular fin-fluencer, PR Sundar, was barred from options trading for an entire year, when it was found that he was running full fledged investment advisory services i.e. recommending buying and selling stocks, without obtaining the necessary licenses Bollywood actor <keyword id="20003289" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="arshad-warsi" source="keywords">Arshad Warsi</keyword>, along with his wife Maria Goretti, were also banned by SEBI last year after he was found uploading videos that lured investors to buy shares of two specific companies, namely Sadhna Broadcast and Sharpline Broadcast, and thus, profiting about Rs 29.43 lakh and Rs 37.56 lakh, respectively. They were not allowed to trade until they deposited all profits made in this manner in an escrow account. However, the duo, along with Warsi's brother Iqbal Warsi later received relief from SAT (Securities Appellate Tribunal), which set aside SEBI's order.

Anil Ambani, Arshad Warsi- Famous names who SEBI has barred from the markets

<keyword id="571991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirav-Modi">Nirav Modi</keyword>, wanted in connection with the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, was further remanded in custody on Tuesday by a court in London hearing India's extradition request for the diamond merchant The 49-year-old appeared on Tuesday via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, dressed in a maroon sweater and sporting a full beard, for his regular 28-day "call-over hearing" at Westminster Magistrates' Court, where Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot extended his remand for another 28 days until December 29. "It will be another short videolink call-over hearing and then there is just over a week before closing submissions in the case," she told Modi, who spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth. The final hearings in the extradition case are scheduled over two days, on January 7 and 8 next year, when District Judge Samuel Goozee is scheduled to hear closing arguments from both sides before he hands down his judgment a few weeks later. At the last hearing in the case on November 3, Judge Goozee heard the arguments for and against the admissibility of certain witness statements provided by <keyword id="443588" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Central-Bureau-of-Investigation">the Central Bureau of Investigation</keyword> (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) and ruled that the evidence to establish a prima facie case of fraud and <keyword id="6355008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Money-laundering">money laundering</keyword> against the fugitive <keyword id="1105425" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Diamantaire">diamantaire</keyword> is broadly admissible. He concluded that he considered himself "bound" by the previous UK court rulings in the extradition case of former Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya. <keyword id="9347723" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-crown-prosecution-service">The Crown Prosecution Service</keyword> (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian authorities, had stressed that the evidence, including witness statements under Section 161 of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), meets the required threshold for the UK court to determine whether Modi has a case to answer before the Indian judicial system. "The argument that this is a very specific case, distinguishable from Mallya is frankly nonsense," said CPS barrister Helen Malcolm. That Mallya has a case to answer in India in his fraud and money laundering case has cleared various levels of the UK judicial system and is currently undergoing a "confidential" legal issue before UK Home Secretary Priti Patel can consider signing off on his extradition. Modi's barrister, Clare Montgomery, who was also the defence counsel in Mallya's case, however, disputed that the Section 161 witness statements qualify as similar. "The government of India case is not as strong as it was in Mallya," said Montgomery, as she also raised a specific issue over a witness who was said to speak no English in his testimony for the CBI but signed a statement in English for the ED. Modi is the subject of two sets of criminal proceedings, with the CBI case relating to a large-scale fraud upon PNB through the fraudulent obtaining of "Letters of Understanding" (LOUs or loan agreements), and the ED case relating to the laundering of the proceeds of that fraud. He also faces two additional charges of "causing the disappearance of evidence" and intimidating witnesses or "criminal intimidation to cause death" added to the CBI case. The jeweller has been in prison since he was arrested on March 19, 2019, on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard and his attempts at seeking bail have been repeatedly turned down. The charges against him centre around his firms Diamonds R Us, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds making fraudulent use of a credit facility offered by PNB or LoUs. The CPS, on behalf of India, have told the court during the course of two separate set of hearings in May and September that a number of PNB staff conspired with Modi to ensure the LoUs were issued to his companies without ensuring they were subject to the required credit check, without recording the issuance of the LoUs and without charging the required commission upon the transactions. Modi's defence team has sought to counter allegations of fraud by deposing witnesses to establish the volatility of the gems and jewellery trade and that the LoUs were standard practice. His severe depression has also been raised as part of the arguments against extradition. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/kunal-shah-cred-raises-80-million-valuation-doubles-to-800-million-for-the-just-two-year-old-startup/articleshow/79502864.cms">Kunal Shah’s CRED raises $80 million – valuation doubles to $800 million for the just two-year old startup</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/new-technology-to-create-fuel-and-oxygen-on-mars-could-help-humans-explore-the-deep-sea-here-on-earth/articleshow/79504876.cms">New technology to create fuel and oxygen on Mars could help humans explore the deep sea here on Earth</a>

Nirav Modi's remand extended in UK, final hearings in 2021

<ul><li>The Enforcement Directorate is currently investigating <keyword id="1702687" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="YES-Bank-founder">Yes Bank founder</keyword> <keyword id="128581" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rana-Kapoor">Rana Kapoor</keyword>.</li><li>They suspect that he's responsible for ₹30,000 crore worth loans at Yes Bank that went bad.</li><li>Here's the full story of everything that the ED's investigation has revealed so far about how Rana Kapoor gave out those loans and pocketed the kickbacks.</li></ul>Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor shunned the family jewellery businesses to break into the tough world of private banking in India. However, his choice of loans, heady risks and illegal practices of lending against kickbacks brought the country’s fourth-largest lender under the lens of investigative agencies. A year after he entered the billionaire club, Kapoor’s world <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/the-fall-of-yes-bank-founder-rana-kapoor-from-a-billion-dollars-to-facing-a-4300-crore-investigation/articleshow/74547669.cms">started to crumble</a> when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked Kapoor to step down from his position as CEO of Yes Bank by January 2019. By July, Yes Bank’s share price had dropped by 78% leaving Kapoor with a net worth of $377 million. 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="rana6" msid="74645019" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Rana Kapoor addresses his first press conference after taking charge as ASSOCHAM President in New Delhi on 26 July 2013&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







 But the bank had lost much more as ₹30,000 crore worth loans went bad, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) held him responsible. After the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/yes-bank-founder-rana-kapoor-arrested-by-ed-on-charges-of-money-laundering/articleshow/74534138.cms">ED arrested him</a>, it has identified 78 shell corporations that are suspected of receiving kickbacks in exchange for loans that no other bank would touch. According to the investigation, as his depositors lost money, he became richer by ₹5,000 crore only in kickbacks. With funds routed through shell companies and benami accounts, Kapoor <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/a-reported-list-of-rana-kapoors-assets-include-a-30-million-investment-in-uk-a-yacht-and-five-properties-in-delhi/articleshow/74594273.cms">bought hotels in New York</a> and London, bungalows in Delhi, flats in Mumbai and expensive paintings. The ED's investigation also revealed that, Kapoor who played fast and hard with rules, also failed to insulate his family from harm. His wife Bindu and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rana-kapoors-daughters-who-said-no-to-banking-are-now-in-the-dock-with-yes-bank-crisis/articleshow/74549729.cms">three daughters</a> — Roshini, Radha and Rakhee — are at the helm of most of these shell companies, and CBI has its claws around them too. The case of money laundering The saga of crony capitalism started to come to light last week when Kapoor was booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on March 6 to look into the connection between him and Yes Bank’s bad loans. 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="rana7" msid="74645029" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Rana Kapoor arrested at his residence in Mumbai by the ED&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







 The ED <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/yes-bank-founder-rana-kapoor-questioned-on-money-laundering-case-house-raided-by-ed/articleshow/74522297.cms">raided his residence</a> at Samudra Mahal in Worli to search for evidence and grilled him for hours. The following day, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ed-continues-questioning-yes-bank-founder-rana-kapoor/articleshow/74525680.cms">officials took Kapoor</a> back to ED’s Ballard Pier office in Mumbai. During the course of the interrogation, the agency expanded its probe to include his daughters. They allegedly own multiple companies that received kickbacks from different corporates who received loans from Yes Bank. 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="rana9" msid="74645036" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Rana Kapoor reprimanded into ED Custody until March 16&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







 The ₹600 crore kickback from DHFL One of the companies suspected by the ED of giving kickbacks to Kapoor’s companies is DHFL — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/yes-bank-founder-rana-kapoor-arrested-by-ed-on-charges-of-money-laundering/articleshow/74534138.cms">accused of misappropriating funds</a> worth ₹25,000 crore, which ultimately led to its downfall. Yes Bank had doled out a loan of ₹3,750 crore directly to DHFL and another loan worth ₹750 crore to RKW Developers, a subsidiary of DHFL. However, when the real estate company defaulted on its loan, Kapoor did not initiate any action. 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="rana4" msid="74645060" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Rana Kapoor (C) with wife Bindu Kapoor (L) and daughter Roshni Kapoor (R)&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







 The ED now suspects that his restraint was a result of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ed-questions-yes-bank-founder-rana-kapoor-for-second-day-expands-raids/articleshow/74530525.cms">kickbacks to the tune of ₹600 crore</a> to Doit Urban Ventures — a dummy corporation owned by Kapoor and two of his daughters. Nearly 80 shell companies set up to receive bribes and buy bungalows Two days into the interrogation Kapoor was arrested for not cooperating with the authorities. Meanwhile, 10 teams of the CBI were involved in its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/yes-bank-scam-cbi-carries-out-searches-at-7-locations-in-mumbai-loc-issued/articleshow/74554915.cms">search operations</a> spread across the south Mumbai neighbourhood. The ED found that Rana Kapoor and his family had more than <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/yes-bank-crisis-probe-agency-says-rana-kapoor-along-with-his-family-owned-78-shell-companies-2194031">78 shell companies </a>set up to receive bribes and invest in properties under the radar. All of these companies were either directly under Kapoor’s control or under the control of his wife and daughters. His wife, Bindu, was the director of at least 42 companies. 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="25110ed6046e3eb4597f509f58f1c4eb_edited" msid="74645069" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Rana Kapoor&amp;#39;s property at Amrita Shergil Marg&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







 The companies allegedly invested in properties with a net worth of over ₹2,000 crore. An official told PTI that the current market value of those properties could be <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/yes-bank-crisis-probe-agency-says-rana-kapoor-along-with-his-family-owned-78-shell-companies-2194031">well above ₹5,000 crore.</a> His shady overseas properties include two luxury hotels — one in New York worth over $20 million and one in London worth nearly £30 million — two residential apartments in London valued at £15 million apiece, and a yacht. In India, Kapoor owns six bungalows in Delhi’s upscale neighbourhoods, including Jor Bagh, Hauz Khas and Kautilya Marg. Two were bought by a company called Bliss Adobe, which had Bindu as its director. The property on Amrita Shergil Marg was auctioned off by Avantha Realty when Bliss Abode picked it off the market. Coincidentally, Yes Bank’s exposure to Avantha Realty was ₹500 crore. The other house on Sardar Patel Marg was bought by the Kapoor’s shell corporation Bliss Home. ED’s investigation noted that the house was formerly owned by Vijay Mallya. ED also found that Kapoor owns six flats and a parcel of land in Mumbai and its suburbs. Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra and the painting by MF Hussain During the search of his Mumbai residence, the ED seized nearly 50 pieces of art from his home. One of the paintings — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/india/news/congress-raises-question-over-rana-kapoors-links-with-bjp/articleshow/74544228.cms">a portrait of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by MF Hussain</a> — belonged to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The Congress party says that the deal between Vadra and Kapoor was a transparent transaction of ₹2 crore. The payment was made through cheque and was reflected in income tax returns. However, the ED is still looking into whether the painting was Vadra’s to sell or belonged to the All India Congress Committee (AICC). It’s also looking into whether the provenance certificate — which authenticates the artwork — was signed by Vadra and under what circumstances. Can’t leave the country Kapoor and his family currently can’t leave the country. A look-out notice was also issued in their names on March 12 along with DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan. Roshini, Kapoor’s youngest daughter, was stopped at the CSM International Airport in Mumbai trying to catch a flight to London. Kapoor’s arrest has been extended to March 16 during which he will be in the custody of the ED. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also loading its guns. It has begun a probe into the Yes Bank affairs but has not elaborated on the nature of the probe. The Income Tax Department is next in line to initiate action against Kapoor and others for tax evasion and possession of alleged undeclared foreign assets. Meanwhile, the Odisha unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked for a separate probe to look into the alleged conspiracy behind the deposits of ₹545 crore of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/concern-over-lord-jagannaths-rs-545-crore-in-yes-bank/articleshow/74514318.cms">Shree Jagannath Temple</a>. Money laundering, tax evasion, fraud and insider trading— the founder of India’s fourth-largest private sector bank Rana Kapoor has been accused of it all. And, the evidence against him is piling up. While depositors are all set to get <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/yes-bank-withdrawal-limit-to-be-lifted-in-three-working-days/articleshow/74624128.cms">relief this week</a> as moratorium lifts, Kapoor who claims he has “no clue” why RBI restricted withdrawals - will stay with the authorities trying to explain how he sunk crores into companies that can best be described as money pits. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/yes-bank-crisis-and-its-domino-effect-on-bonds-mutual-funds-and-other-corporate-defaults/articleshow/74586858.cms">Yes Bank crisis and its domino effect on bonds, mutual funds and other corporate defaults</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/the-fall-of-yes-bank-founder-rana-kapoor-from-a-billion-dollars-to-facing-a-4300-crore-investigation/articleshow/74547669.cms">The fall of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor from a billion dollars to facing a ₹4300 crore investigation</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rana-kapoors-daughters-who-said-no-to-banking-are-now-in-the-dock-with-yes-bank-crisis/articleshow/74549729.cms">The three Kapoor sisters who said ‘no’ to banking are now in the dock with Yes Bank crisis</a>

Rana Kapoor's hotels, bungalows, flats and paintings — everything that Yes Bank founder is suspected for buying with kickbacks

The parliament has confirmed that Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the agency that probes white-collar crimes is currently investigating the long-grounded <keyword id="6373962" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kingfisher-Airlines">Kingfisher Airlines</keyword> for its alleged financial irregularities. 
 "SFIO is currently investigating Kingfisher Airlines. Since investigation is in progress, no comments are offered at this stage," Corporate Affairs Minister <keyword id="42575" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Arun-Jaitley">Arun Jaitley</keyword> said while replying to Rajya Sabha’s query about lapses by the auditing firms that are handling the UB Group case. 
It was in 2012 thatr Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines was grounded because of huge debts and operational issues. 
 
However, this is not the only reason for Mallya’s worry, who fled India because of huge loans on his head, which he owes to several state-run banks in India. 
 
<a href="http://www.newsread.in/budget-2016arun-jaitley-farmers-investors-2697.html">Image source</a>

Kingfisher Airlines case is being investigated by SFIO, confirms Arun Jaitley

55-year old Imran is a watchman in one of the residential buildings in suburban Mumbai. He sleeps on the same chair he sits on to guard the building and uses the common toilet in the parking lot to clean up. He works two shifts a day of 12 hours each, for a total salary of ₹13,500. If he had worked one shift a day, he would have got ₹7,000 a month and would have had to find himself an accommodation. He would rather send nearly all his earnings to his family in a village in Uttar Pradesh than rent a room in Mumbai. Imran was blissfully unaware of the ongoing trend on Twitter where leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and their supporters have prefixed the word 'chowkidar' to their profile names. Chowkidar is the Hindi word for watchman or security guard and it has since become a buzzword on social media. When told about his humble job being at the centre of the country's political discourse ahead of the elections, Imran's first reaction was that of amusement. "Wasn't it chaiwala the last time?" he asked with a smirk and thinly veiled sarcasm. 'Chaiwala' is what Indians call the local tea vendor in Hindi. Modi's claim to fame in the run up to the 2014 elections was that he had worked in his father's tea stall in Gujarat as a child. He used his humble origins effectively as he challenged the country's political royalty-- the Gandhi family which has sent three Prime Ministers in the past-- and caught the fancy of an aspiring voter base. At the same time, a series of corruption charges against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) tilted the scale further in Modi's favour and the BJP swept the elections with a majority in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament. This was the first time any party had managed to score a full majority in India's Parliamentary elections since 1984. Modi is banking once again on a strategy that worked for him five years ago. The word 'chowkidar' has been bandied around by BJP leaders pitching Modi as a man of strength but someone who lacks political pedigree. That can hardly be true for a person who has been a politician for over two decades, a chief minister for three terms, and currently, the prime minister seeking re-election. The playbook-- underdog versus the entitled-- is as old as time but no one has claimed the 'underdog' tag effectively after the first surprise. But Modi is giving it another shot And in this battle of catchphrases, Modi may have an upper hand over his rivals. First of all, the move has either distracted or diluted the debate on more pressing issues like the economy, policies, and unemployment. Modi's rivals are essentially talking about things that he wants them to talk about. While charging the government with corruption, senior Congress leaders have tweeted '<keyword id="6895071" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chowkidar-chor-hai">chowkidar chor hai</keyword>' or 'the watchman is the thief'. However, by referring to Modi as the watchman repeatedly, even in slander, the opposition is unwittingly fortifying the image he wants: a strongman of a humble background who is guarding the country not just from adversaries across the borders but also keeping a watch on home-grown muggers looking for a way out to safety. For example, the opposition is mocking Modi citing the government's failure to stop billionaire fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi with unpaid loans and alleged bank frauds to their name from leaving the country. However, even if one of the three are nabbed ahead of the elections, it will be forgotten that each of the three businessmen, with close ties to the BJP in the past, did mysteriously escape from the country. The time spent on countering the chowkidar claim could have been used to question the government on its economic blunders like demonetisation, the troubles of the small enterprises, and the rise in unemployment in the last five years. In the run up to the 2014 elections as well as in every state election thereafter wherever the BJP was the challenger, Modi had, in no uncertain terms, demanded an account of the incumbent government's performance. He would set the agenda and let the party in power respond. The strategy has been so successful that BJP is now in power in 17 out 29 Indian states. Instead of holding him to account for the last five years, his rivals are following Modi's lead in political rhetoric. This hollow, partisan, inconsequential, farcical political debate is a lost opportunity for the opposition. Over a 1,300 kilometres away from Mumbai in Gurgaon, Kabir (name changed on request), gets paid ₹15,000 for a 12-hour shift as a watchman. That's more than twice that of Imran, but it's still not enough for him to run a family comfortably. Kabir had seen the rhetoric around watchmen in India on news television and he saw hope. "The PM is one of us and he will improve our working conditions after he wins the elections," he said. In the words of Emily Dickinson, hope is the thing with feathers. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/elections-2019-latest-opinion-poll-pegs-unemployment-as-the-biggest-issue/articleshow/68475510.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Modi may not take the fall for rising unemployment in India, latest opinion poll shows</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/general-elections-2019-vvpat-how-to-verify-vote/articleshow/68475130.cms">Here’s how you can verify your vote using VVPAT</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/is-indias-2019-election-really-a-foregone-conclusion/articleshow/68423465.cms">Is India's 2019 election really a foregone conclusion?</a>

You Searched For "mallya loan fraud" and got 6 results

ED wants to quiz the ex-CFO of now defunct, Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines

BI India Bureau

Anil Ambani, Arshad Warsi- Famous names who SEBI has barred from the markets

Ira Alok Puranik

Nirav Modi's remand extended in UK, final hearings in 2021

PTI

Rana Kapoor's hotels, bungalows, flats and paintings — everything that Yes Bank founder is suspected for buying with kickbacks

Prabhjote Gill

Kingfisher Airlines case is being investigated by SFIO, confirms Arun Jaitley

BI India Bureau

The humble security guard at the centre of India’s election debate is a sign that Modi is still setting the agenda

Sriram Iyer