The notorious Gupta family is back in the headlines, but this time, the drama has shifted from South Africa to India. Ajay Gupta and his brother-in-law Anil Gupta were arrested last week in Dehradun, India. The arrest is linked to the suicide of a prominent builder whose suicide note accused the Guptas of threats and coercion.
The builder’s family say he was forced to transfer ownership of his construction companies to the Guptas under duress. It sure sounds like the Gupta family. 😒 Helping or causing someone to take their own life is a crime in India, so this Gupta duo are now facing criminal charges for abetment to suicide.
So, what does this arrest mean for South Africa’s attempts to make the Guptas face justice for ruining our economy? In short, not much. The brothers Ajay, Anil, and Rajesh were accused of hijacking the South African government (also known as “state capture”) through their ties to former president Jacob Zuma. They fled South Africa in 2016 when the law finally stepped in and have been spotted in Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since.
Atul and Rajesh are the ones specifically wanted in South Africa for their starring roles in the state capture scandal – Ajay and Anil, the main characters in the Indian suicide drama, are not. (Yet.)
The South African government has been trying to extradite Rajesh and Atul from the UAE for years, including obtaining arrest warrants and Interpol Red Notices for the pair. Despite this and their arrest in Dubai in June 2022, the UAE rejected South Africa’s extradition request earlier this year. Their current whereabouts are uncertain.
Ajay’s arrest in India adds another twist to this complex saga. The Justice Department is now chatting with their counterparts in India to see if there’s any way to tie this latest drama to their ongoing pursuit of the rest of the Gupta clan.
