Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], May 25 (ANI): South African businessmen and brothers, Ajay Kumar Gupta and Anil Kumar Gupta, who were arrested by police in Uttarakhand's Dehradun on charges of abetting the suicide of a builder, were sent to 14 days of judicial custody on Saturday.
According to officials, one of the accused brothers, Ajay Kumar Gupta, a famous businessman from Saharanpur, has been linked to controversies from Uttarakhand to South Africa.
Originally from UP's Saharanpur, the Gupta brothers were arrested on Friday after a Dehradun-based builder named them in a suicide note.
Reportedly, the duo was close to South African President Jacob Zuma, who had to resign from his post due to pressure from the African National Congress.
Ajay Gupta has a special status in Uttarakhand, due to which he was given Z Plus security by the then government of Uttarakhand in 2017.
This famous businessman from Saharanpur, Ajay Kumar Gupta, who was arrested in the case of inciting Dehradun builder Baba Sahni to commit suicide, was given Z Plus security by the then government on June 16, 2017.
Ajay Kumar Gupta organized his son's wedding reception at Auli, a famous tourist destination in Chamoli district, which also caused a lot of controversy.
In 2018, Johannesburg police raided the houses of Ajay Gupta and his brothers, who built a huge empire in South Africa. At that time, the police also arrested a member of the family.
Ajay Kumar Gupta and his brother Anil Kumar Gupta, who were named in the case of inciting a prominent Dehradun builder to commit suicide, were arrested by the Dehradun police on Friday.
Earlier, the builder, identified as Satinder Singh Sawhney, died by suicide allegedly by jumping from the roof of an under-construction building located on Rajpur Road.
Sawhney, also known as Baba Sawhney, left behind a suicide note addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, in which he claimed that he had been under severe depression due to ongoing threats and financial disputes with several businessmen, including the Gupta brothers from Africa.
The note revealed that Sawhney had been facing severe harassment, which had exacerbated his depression and led to his drastic decision.
Following the incident, Dehradun police swiftly arrested Ajay Gupta and Anil Gupta, after which the duo were taken into custody for questioning.
"The deceased builder's son filed an FIR regarding the suicide. After that, the 'Gupta brothers', Ajay Gupta and Anil Gupta, were detained based on the evidence. It was found that the deceased was put under unnecessary pressure in his business partnership. He was threatened," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dehradun, Ajay Singh, had told ANI .(ANI)
