Kin get PM’s word on help for jailed diamond traders

For the 21 diamond traders jailed in China for past six months, there is a glimmer of hope.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured the relatives of the traders of personal intervention in the matter. The relatives met the PM last week.

All of the traders are Gujaratis, having close links with Surat and Mumbai.

“The prime minister has assured us that he would personally intervene in the matter, and take it up at the highest levels for the sake of the diamond traders.

We are confident of positive developments in the matter in the near future,” Congress leader from Surat, Chandravadan Pithawalla, said. Pithawalla was part of the delegation that met the PM.

The traders were arrested on January 8 by the Anti- Smuggling Bureau of Shenzhen on charges of smuggling diamonds into Shenzhen. No formal charges have been slapped against the traders yet.

The arrested traders used to bring diamonds from Hong Kong and smuggle them into Shenzhen with the help of carriers without paying various taxes and duties.

The diamonds were distributed to diamond cutting & polishing factories, which in turn.