(From left) Naomi Watts, Nirav Modi and Deborra-Lee Furness attend the Nirav Modi US Boutique grand opening at Nirav Modi Boutique on Sept 8, 2015 in New York City. (JAMIE MCCARTHY / GETTY IMAGES)

LONDON/NEW DELHI - A British judge refused to grant Nirav Modi bail after the Indian billionaire jeweler appeared in a London court on Wednesday. 

Modi, 48, was arrested in the Holborn area of central London on Tuesday following a request by India in August for Britain to extradite the diamond magnate. He was remanded in custody until March 29.

Modi, one of the main suspects charged in the US$2 billion loan fraud at state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), left the country before India’s biggest banking fraud came to light early last year.

Separately,  India’s main financial crime fighting agency said that a court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against Nirav Modi’s wife

Prior to his arrest, India’s main opposition Congress party had used it as a weapon to target the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of an April-May general election.

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PNB, India’s second-largest state-run bank, in 2018 said that two jewelry groups headed by Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had defrauded it by raising credit from other Indian banks using fraudulent guarantees issued by rogue staff of the bank.

Modi and Choksi have both denied wrongdoing. Modi’s India-based lawyer could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

PNB shares closed up 3 percent on the news of Modi’s arrest.

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In December, a British court agreed that another high-profile Indian businessman, aviation tycoon Vijay Mallya, could be extradited to his homeland to face fraud charges. Mallya is currently appealing the decision.

Prakash Javadekar, a minister in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, said all the fugitives would have to come back and “return the looted money to the nation”.

Separately, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), India’s main financial crime fighting agency, said that a court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against Nirav Modi’s wife.

The court also allowed the ED to auction 11 vehicles belonging to Modi - including Rolls Royce, Porsche, Mercedes and Toyota - and income tax authorities to auction 68 paintings owned by him.