NEW DELHI: Nirav Modi, the billionaire gem jeweller who performed Punjab National Bank, the country'a second-largest bank scam( a more than $2 billion fraud case)has escaped to the UK, where he is claiming “political asylum”, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, as quoting Indian and British officials.

Britain's Home Office cited it does not provide information on individual cases. Till the time escapee Nirav Modi could not be made contact with Reuters for comment on the FT report.

PNB the India’s second-largest state-run bank, stated earlier in 2018 that two jewellery groups led by Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had swindled it of about $2.2 billion by raising credit from overseas branches of other Indian banks using illegitimate guarantees issued by rogue PNB personnel at a Mumbai branch over a number of years.

Now Nirav Modi is in London seeking to claim protection from what he calls "political persecution", the FT reported.

Ministry of external affairs said the FT that the Indian government was waiting for law enforcement agencies to come within reach of them before pushing for an extradition, which had as a consequence far not happened. The ministry did not take action to Reuters request for comment outside regular working hours.

The Centre is already trying the extradition of liquor and aviation tycoon Vijay Mallya over due loans to his obsolete Kingfisher Airlines after the businessman and co-owner of the Formula One Force India team moved to Britain in March last year as TOI reported.

Police registered charges against more than 25 people in May this year including Nirav Modi, Choksi, former PNB chief Usha Ananthasubramanian, two of the PNB bank's executive directors and three companies belonging to Nirav Modi.

However Modi and Choksi have deprived of any illegal behavior.