The recent extradition cases of businessmen Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi have brought into focus Indian fugitives who have in the past “escaped” to the UK, specifically to London. Along with these high profile cases, journalists Danish and Ruhi Khan will also discuss the cases of music director Nadeem Saifi, drug lord Iqbal Mirchi, shipping magnate Dharma Jayanti Teja, idol smugglers Narang brothers, army contractor Mubarak Ali Ahmed - all of whom were pursued by the Indian government in British courts - at our Online Talk #Escapees. They will try and answer the questions: Why do Indian fugitives go to London? How do they frustrate India's attempt to get them back? And what can India do?

About the speakers

Danish Khan was a journalist in Mumbai (Mid Day, Mumbai Mirror) and continues to extensively write and report as a foreign correspondent from London. After his MA from King's College India Institute, he is pursuing DPhil at University of Oxford on Muslim capitalism in colonial Bombay. 

Ruhi Khan has worked with Mumbai Mirror and NDTV. She is a research scholar at the London School of Economics and also edits the LSE Media blog. She was a curator at Twitter and contributes to Mojo story and The Wire from the UK. 

Their book Escaped: The stories of Indian Fugitives in London, a Penguin publication, came out in March 2021.