 "Who are Gupta brothers arrested in India? Why is South Africa following up with New Delhi?")
The ‘Gupta brothers’ have been arrested in India – and South Africa said it will follow up with New Delhi.
The businessmen have been arrested on charges of abetting the suicide of a builder in Dehradun.
Anil Gupta and Ajay Gupta were arrested by the police after builder Satinder Singh alias Baba Sahni named them in his suicide note.
Sahni jumped off the eighth floor of his daughter’s building on 24 May and succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
The police arrested the ‘Gupta brothers’ on the basis of a note purportedly written by Sahni and on a complaint registered by his son Ranveer Singh.
The Gupta brothers were arrested on Friday on charges of abetting Sahni’s suicide.
They were arrested under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code at the Rajpur police station.
The Guptas have been sent to judicial remand for 14 days.
But who are they? And what is the influence they wield on South African politics?
Let’s take a closer look:
Who are the Guptas?
There are three Gupta brothers – Ajay, Atul and Rajesh.
Anil Gupta is thought to be married to their sister Achala and is thus their brother-in-law.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAs per CNBC, the three brothers are originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.
They moved to South Africa in 1993.
It was their father Shiv Kumar Gupta who gave Atul the idea of moving to South Africa.
Shiv believed the country would become the “America of the world.”
Atul settled in South Africa first, while Ajay and Rajesh followed.
The Guptas initially sold shoes from their car in South Africa.
They then set up Sahara computers – named after their hometown of Saharanpur.
Together, the three brothers formed the Sahara Group – a business that would include computers, air travel, mining, energy, media and technology.
The Sahara Group by 2018 had an annual turnover of $22 million.
It employed around 10,000 people.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, A former neighbour of theirs in Saharanpur said: “When the brothers went to South Africa, no one knew they would strike gold there. It was only after the 2013 wedding that we realised how big they had become. They were cautious enough not to flaunt their wealth in Saharanpur or ruffle any feathers."
What influence do they wield on South African politics?
The brothers in 2015 grew extremely close to Jacob Zuma – the then president of South Africa.
As per BBC, they first met Zuma when he was a guest at a Sahara Group function.
One of Zuma’s wives, Bongi Ngema-Zuma, was a communications officer at the Gupta-controlled JIC Mining Services Company.
The Guptas are thought to have given her a Pretoria mansion valued at $200,000.
The Guptas denied this.
Zuma’s son Duduzane was a director in Sahara Computers as well as involved with several other companies.
A wedding in the Gupta family in 2013 created ripples when a plane carrying the guests for their daughter’s wedding was allowed to land at a military airbase reserved only for the head of state – Waterkloof Air Force base, outside Pretoria.
It appeared that Zuma had tacitly approved the decision, which breached air force, customs and immigration rules. The guests were also accorded a police ‘blue light’ escort.
In 2016, South Africa saw a major political controversy over allegations that the Gupta brothers had promised the then deputy finance minister an elevation to the post of the finance minister if he advanced their business interests.
The brothers allegedly also promised to pay $3 million.
According to CNBC, ex-ANC MP MP Vytjie Mentor also claimed she was offered the position of public enterprise minister at a 2010 meeting at their Saxonworld mansion.
She claimed Zuma was present when the offer was made.
Around the same time, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan alleged that it was the Gupta brothers who had got him fired from the Jacob Zuma government.
The Gupta business empire was repeatedly accused of securing deals with South Africa’s giant state-owned companies on wildly favourable terms.
As per Financial Times, Ajay Gupta is thought to be the mastermind behind the family’s schemes.
South Africa’s ethics watchdog, the Public Protector, published a damning report in October 2016, finding that the state-owned electricity monopoly had awarded a massive coal order to a Gupta-linked business at well above market prices.
On the watchdog’s recommendation, a judicial inquiry was opened, gathered testimonies for four years and released serialised reports containing damning details.
In 2017, about 1 lakh emails were leaked, establishing how deeply the Gupta brothers influenced the Jacob Zuma government and this marked the beginning of the downfall of their empire.
Protests were also taking place in the aftermath of the electoral setbacks that the African National Congress (ANC) suffered in the local body polls in 2016. The ANC feared that it would suffer in the next national polls.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo compiled a report, revealing how the wealthy brothers became enmeshed with the highest levels of government and the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
In a series of reports, the investigators said procurement contracts at the proprietor of all rail, ports and pipelines amounted to “planned offences of racketeering activity conducted by a racketeering enterprise” linked to the Guptas.
The investigators also concluded that Zuma “would do anything that the Guptas wanted him to do for them”.
In February 2018, the Opposition brought a no-confidence motion against Zuma. The ANC had suffered enough humiliation.
So, it forced Jacob Zuma to step down as South Africa’s president.
The Gupta brothers then fled to Dubai.
Meanwhile, Zuma was jailed for 15 months for refusing to testify before the investigators. He was released on parole, having served just two months of the term.
Pretoria then penned treaties to enable the two countries to help each other in the investigation and prosecution of crimes and the extradition of fugitives.
The extradition treaty was concluded in June 2021.
The following month Interpol issued a red notice alert enabling law enforcement to arrest a person sought for prosecution or to serve a custodial sentence and hold them pending extradition.
In July 2021, Interpol said the Gupta brothers were being sought for fraud and money laundering in connection with a $1.6-millioncontract paid to a Gupta-linked company, Nulane Investment, to conduct an agricultural feasibility study.
Paul Holden, an investigator who runs an NGO alongside a former ANC MP, estimated that the cost of the Guptas’ alleged illicit activities in South Africa could be as much as $3.2 billion.
Atul and Rajesh were detained in Dubai in 2022, as per Financial Express.
However, in 2023, the UAE refused the South Africa’s demand to extradite them
Pretoria then declared the brothers as fugitives.
What about this case?
Sahni in the purported note addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami claimed that he had been under severe depression due to ongoing threats and financial disputes with several businessmen, including the Gupta brothers from Africa.
Sahni purportedly claimed this severe harassment worsened his depression.
Police arrived at spot at 11:30 am after being informed of an injured and unconscious man near the Pacific Golf State building in Rajpur, as per a PTI report.
The injured man was identified as Sahni, a builder residing in the upscale Race Course area.
Sahni was rushed to Max Hospital after his fall but succumbed to his injuries.
“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.
As per Livemint, Sahni’s son Ranveer has claiemd the Gupta brothers of ‘intimidated, threatened and blackmailed’his father.
He previously filed a police complaint alleging that the Gupta brothers were exerting undue pressure on him regarding a project.
The complaint also states that the Guptas lodged a false complaint against Sahni in Saharanpur.
They allegedly pressured Sahni to transfer his companies to them and threatened to jail him and his son-in-law on false charges.
South Africa to follow up
The assets of the Gupta brothers in South Africa have been frozen amid legal challenges by them to have these released.
There is uncertainty about whether this is the same Ajay Gupta who fled South Africa alongside his brothers Atul and Rajesh, the third one also on South Africa’s wanted list.
“Justice and Correctional Services has noted reports of the arrest of two Gupta brothers, Ajay and Anil, in India. Our arrest warrants were for Rajesh and Atul Gupta. Nevertheless, formal processes are underway through the High Commissioner in India to verify and for possible engagement,” Department of Justice spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told News24.
At an African National Congress rally in Johannesburg on Saturday, ahead of general elections in South Africa, justice minister Ronald Lamola confirmed that the government was aware of members of the Gupta family being arrested in India.
But he said there was uncertainty about whether any of them were the members for whom South Africa had issued warrants of arrest.
With inputs from agencies
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