New Delhi, June 29: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has written to several European countries asking them to help trace bank fraud fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi and asserted that he did not have more than one Indian passport in his possession. According to a report on PTI, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the ministry has also sent messages to all its missions abroad to get in touch with local governments to deny entry to Modi and inform India if he was residing there.

Reportedly, Modi was able to travel across the world because his 'revoked' passport was not physically cancelled, which is necessary. Kumar further highlighted that only after his previous passport was physically cancelled, he was issued a new one. At no point in time, did he have more than one valid passport. The clarification was in response to the steps the Ministry has taken to stop Modi from fleeing and roaming across the world. According to sources, quoted in the report, Modi cannot be arrested abroad unless the Interpol issues a red corner notice against him.

There were earlier reports, which highlighted that Modi possesses more than one Indian passports, which were revealed by the agencies probing the incident. The government had revoked Modi's passport earlier this year, regardless of which he managed to travel all throughout the world.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2018 09:04 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).