“From the weekly cap of £18,000 set by the court to come down to monthly expenses of £22,000 is no mean feat for the ‘King of Good Times’. These figures are way above average household expenses, but to a man known for his lavish lifestyle, the very notion of having a budgetary limit can be revolting.”
Little details such as these are peppered across Escaped, a book with 12 gripping accounts of Indian fugitives who have found shelter in the UK. London residents and authors Danish Khan and Ruhi Khan craft a book that offers more than a deep-dive into how the famous fugitives made their great escape. It also offers rare insights into their lives before and after their fall.
For instance, in "King of Bad Debts" (who could this be but Vijay Mallya!), their narrative weaves in his obsession for natty suits—from a navy blue suit and a sky blue and white pin dot tie he wears on the first day of his trial in a London court, to the signature blue suit with a bright yellow tie on the second day. Little known details of his lavish London townhouse, which is not registered in his name though he owns it, and his equally plush country house in the village of Tewin, in Hertfordshire, find their way into the book.
Also read: Book Excerpt: Why rich Indian fugitives often escape to London
In "Count of Monte Corruption", the authors describe the huge underground vault that runs below Nirav Modi’s property on 31 Old Bond Street. This is where the fugitive diamantaire was said to be hiding. “The massive vault underneath had hidden many treasures and many secrets of the mysterious jewellery designer,” they write.
Ruhi says that it would be easy to say that Mallya’s case, which sparked public interest in extradition, paved the way for the book. “But for us, it just served as a gateway that led to many more such cases where we could explore intriguing and complex issues related to crime, law, and foreign policy. Each story takes one into a different underbelly of India, each crime is innovative, and each fugitive is an imposing personality who is hard to forget.”
The book covers a wide gamut of issues surrounding the crime—from the loopholes that allowed the criminals to escape, to the ineffective foreign policy that did not back India’s attempt to lobby to get them back in the earlier years (the extradition treaty was put into effect much later), to the extensive trials.
What made Escaped come alive for me are cases that are now lost in dusty files, crimes that were staged long ago. Among those who escaped India were precious art and antique smugglers, two of the three Narang brothers who came to India as Partition refugees when they were barely in their teens, and then rose to set up and acquire several businesses — from real estate to films, inflight catering to hotels, particularly the famous (in the '70s and '80s) Ambassador Hotel with its revolving restaurant.
It was their nefarious antique smuggling business, however, that got them into hot soup. This was the time when the royal families, with their privy purses abolished, began selling off their family silver. The only government caveat: nothing above 100 years old could leave Indian shores. “The ambitious and resourceful Narang brothers were in the game for high stakes, allegedly lording over a well-oiled empire that could procure antiques, hoodwink the bureaucrats, and deliver to the highest bidder—mostly to foreign shores,” write Danish and Ruhi in "Filmy Moorti Chor", referring to their obsession with Bollywood.
Among the brothers' spectacular loot were two Amin pillars of the Sunga dynasty worth Rs 40 lakh that were discovered in London nine years after they had been stolen from Kurukshetra. Two of the Narang brothers—Manu and Om—escaped to London, and a part of the family continues to live in the British city.
The Narang brothers fascinated Ruhi the most. “Growing up in India and on Bollywood films, it’s impossible to escape a script that features moorti chors, and Narang was a popular baddie name. Now I know why!”
The extensive research involved meeting curious readers, lawyers and law students, law enforcement agencies and policymakers. “We have been attending court cases here in London for a decade, and have made extensive notes of arguments and our observations in courts. We have spent hours in archives across multiple locations to find details of older cases. We have looked up government reports and old newspaper records, both from India and the UK,” says Ruhi.
So, what was the most startling aspect they discovered while researching the book?
Danish says, “The UK has certain policies that make it easy for high net-worth individuals to migrate here. For example, the Investor Visa Scheme is open to individuals who can invest at least £2 million. This ‘golden visa’ scheme has been extremely popular with the Russian oligarchs, Chinese nouveau riche, Arab royalties and of course Indian billionaires.”
Ironically, Escaped does not begin with the story of a fugitive. Instead, it tells the tale of the Goyals of Jet Airways, who did not manage to ‘escape’. They were deboarded from a plane bound for London. “The courts then asked them to deposit an exorbitant amount of money as surety if they wanted to leave the country, making it impossible for them to now do so. This was perhaps possible because of the extensive media reportage on this case, a vigilant citizenry, and pro-active investigative agencies,” says Danish.
The incident is a testament to the growing vigilance and will to investigate allegations of white-collar crimes in the country.
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