Vietnam seeks India’s help in Mumbai diamond smuggling case

The Vietnamese government will soon open talks with India to secure the extradition of Pratik Kirit Mehta, owner of the Mumbai-based Sun Rays Company, after a major diamond smuggling scandal involving his employee rocked Ho Chi Minh City.

- FPJ News Service

Earlier this week, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced 28-year-old Indian national, Dapale Alkesh Kashinath, to seven years in prison and fined him VND 50 million ($2,000) for illegally transporting 362 diamonds valued at $330,000 into Vietnam.

Kashinath, who admitted his role during the trial, told the court he had been working under the instructions of Mehta. “I was only a courier. I carried diamonds into Vietnam on multiple occasions since 2017. For each trip, I was paid around Rs10,000 ($120). The orders always came from my employer, Pratik Kirit Mehta,” Kashinath confessed.