NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Sandeep Mistry, wanted in the fugitive Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, after he was deported from the UAE, the agency said on Tuesday.
Mistry landed in Mumbai on Monday, where CBI officers took him into custody. He was produced before the competent court and sent to jail, the agency said.
The CBI said Mistry acted as a key link between various entities, overseeing their day-to-day operations and issuing instructions through clandestine, self-deleting communication platforms to conceal evidence.
He also allegedly facilitated the preparation of forged import-export documents to portray fictitious trade in diamonds, gold and pearl jewellery, the agency said.
According to the CBI, Mistry and other accused coerced dummy directors of foreign companies by threatening them with arrest, relocating them, seizing their electronic devices and compelling them to sign documents falsely portraying them as the genuine owners of the companies.
He also allegedly participated in siphoning off funds from the bank accounts of dummy companies in the UAE, it added.
The case, registered by the CBI in Mumbai, involves fictitious international trade transactions. A chargesheet has been filed before the competent court, the agency said.
A Red Notice was published against Mistry through INTERPOL channels in July 2026 at the CBI's request. UAE authorities subsequently geo-located and arrested him, following which deportation proceedings were initiated.
The CBI said Mistry was traced, apprehended and brought back to India within roughly two months of the notice being published, reflecting coordination among the agencies concerned.
The CBI worked with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs on the deportation.
