One of Infamous Gupta brothers of South Africa fame, his brother- in-law, held by Doon police on charges of abetment to suicide of business partner
One of Infamous Gupta brothers of South Africa fame, his brother- in-law, held by Doon police on charges of abetment to suicide of business partner
S.M.A.KAZMI
Dehradun , May 24
Two controversial businessmen from infamous ‘Gupta brothers family ’ of South Africa fame were arrested by Dehradun police, here today on the charges of black mailing and abetment of suicide of their business partner. Earlier, in the morning Satender Singh Sahni, a known builder and partner of Gupta brothers committed suicide by jumping from the eighth floor of a building in Pacific Glof area of Dehradun.
Before committing suicide, satender Singh sahni also known as Baba Sahni in suicide notes addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had charged his business partners namely Anil Gupta and Ajay Gupta of black mailing, threatening him and lodging false cases against him in Uttar Pradesh in a bid to force him to quit his partnership in their favour. On the complaint of Ranvir singh Sahni, son of the deceased, both Ajay Gupta, the eldest of the Gupta brother and his brother-in-law Anil Gupta were arrested by the Dehradun police. Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajai singh Informed that a case under section 306 of IPC has been registered against the Guptas’. Anil Kumar Gupta is married to sister of Ajay Gupta. The names of Gupta brothers are Ajay, Atul and Rajesh.
The controversial South African Business hailing from adjoining Saharanpur district are in news for all the wrong reasons after their departure from South Africa. In 2018, while South African authorities were looking for Gupta brothers, who were allegedly responsible for the downfall of former South African President Jacob Zuma, Uttarakhand BJP government had provided Z category security to them at their Dehradun residence. Gupta’s have a palatial house on Curzon road in posh Dalanwala locality of Dehradun .
Gupta’s who had migrated to South Africa in 1993 from Saharanpur had vast business empire. The deposed President Jacob Zuma and his family members had close business links with son and wife of President serving on the companies owned by Guptas. President Jacob Zuma had to resign following allegedly corrupt deals involving Gupta companies. The President faced pressure from his own party African National Congress (ANC) to quit on the issue.
Their palatial house is guarded round the clock by the Uttarakhand police guards. According to state government officials, Guptas were provided security during the previous Congress regime which was upgraded to Z category on June 16, 2017 with the advent of BJP government in the state. The Gupta’s have been provided security on payment basis for which they have paid in advance.
Two of the Gupta brothers were also detained by Haridwar police in 2015 for two hours when their helicopter landed in Haridwar without prior permission. The Gupta brothers also courted controversy when the aeroplane carrying their guests from India to attend a family wedding was allowed to land at an South African airforce air base near Johannesburg. The then President Jacob Zuma had to face the opposition onslaught on the issue. Finally after the removal of Jacob Zuma they left South Africa.
The Gupta brothers again courted controversy and were in news again in 2019 for holding a wedding celebrations of their sons at the world famous skiing resort of Auli in Chamoli district at an altitude of 12,000 feet from June 18 to 22, 2019. It is estimated that the wedding cost Rs 200 crores. A VIP tented colony was set up at the Auli meadow.
After the controversy on the use of ecologically fragile Auli Meadow for wedding ostentation’s, Nainital High court had imposed restrictions on plying of helicopters to ferry guests for the high profile wedding ceremonies of two sons of Gupta brothers on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Kashipur resident Rakshit Joshi.
A division bench of the Nainital High Court comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Alok Verma had ordered the event management company taking care of the marriage to deposit a sum of rs. 3 crore for any damages caused by the marriage ceremony and to be recovered from the refundable amount.
The court also directed the state Pollution control Board and District Magistrate ,Chamoli district to monitor the marriage event minutely by videography and report to the court on any damage during the marriage. More than ten private helicopters have been hired to ferry the guests which include close family members, businessmen, politician and Bollywood stars from Delhi and Sahastradhara helipad at Dehradun .
The petitioner had contended that such high profile weddings would damage the environment while the state government has failed to implement the directions of the High court given to preserve Himalayan meadows. The state government contended that the wedding ceremony is not being held at a meadow but on a slope. The court also imposed restrictions on the timing and volume of music and orchestra to be played during the wedding ceremonies.
High profile guests from across the globe participated in the wedding ceremonies of Surykant son of Ajay Gupta with Kritika, daughter of Suresh Singhal from Delhi and Shashank ,son of Atul Gupta with Shivangi, daughter of Vishal Jalan based in Dubai. The Gupta’s have shifted their business to Dubai from South Africa.
