Ajay Gupta and his brother-in-law Anil Gupta, were arrested on Friday, for their alledged involvement in the suicide of a prominent builder from Dehradun, India, according to Indian media reports. 

The arrest comes after builder Satyendra Singh Sahni, also known as Baba Sahni, had allegedly wrote in his suicide note that he had been severely depressed as a result of ongoing threats and financial disputes with several businessmen, including Ajay and Anil. 

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola says the Gupta family members arrested in India are not Rajesh and Atul Gupta who have been on the run from SA law enforcement since 2016.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC final rally at FNB on Saturday morning Lamola had the following to say:

“There are media reports indicating the arrest of Gupta family members in India. We want to clarify for the world that according to information at our disposal from our High Commissioner in India. The Gupta family are not on the warrant of arrest issued by SA and as per red notice of interpol. The red notice is still valid,” the minister reiterated.

Read in Daily Maverick: Part One: What Gupta enterprise corruption cost South Africa

A photograph purportedly of the arrested duo, that Indian publications have issued, show two men in a jail cell have an uncanny similarity to previously published images of the “South African” Ajay and Anil Gupta.

According to a report from The New Indian Express, Ranvir Sahni, son of the deceased builder, had told the police: “My father was constantly being threatened by Ajay Gupta, son of Shiv Gupta, and Anil Gupta, son of Shyam Lal Gupta, residents of Nehru Colony Dalanwala, over financial matters. A written complaint was submitted to the local police on May 19, 2023, about the Gupta brothers’ threats, harassment, intimidation and blackmail.” 

In his statement to the police, Ranvir said the Guptas were exerting pressure on his father to name both of their projects after him. The police told the newspaper that Anil and Ajay had been detained because of their involvement in the case. 

Both accused are expected to appear in court on Saturday, reported The New Indian Express. 

No Connection to South Africa?

The South African-connected Ajay Gupta is the oldest brother in the family, while it was previously reported that Anil is the husband of Gupta’s sister Achla. At the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in 2020, the former head of legal and compliance at Eskom, Suzanne Daniels described how she met Ajay in the presence of former president Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma, and others in July 2017. 

Daily Maverick reported that the former Eskom executive testified at the Commission that Ajay acted “like he owned the country” in her presence. He wanted details on litigation over former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe’s R30-million pension payout from the power utility.

Read in Daily Maverick: The total(ish) cost of the Guptas’ State Capture: R49,157,323,233.68

Under the Vanuatuan sun?

The Gupta brothers hurriedly packed up and fled South Africa for Dubai after several South African banks terminated their accounts in 2016. A year later there was really no turning back as the #GuptaLeaks emerged to expose the vast extent of their alleged criminal enterprise.

The remaining Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh were arrested in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in June 2022, for their roles in South Africa’s State Capture. The news was widely celebrated following years of unsuccessful attempts to apprehend the fugitive brothers. 

But that celebration was short-lived. South Africa’s request to extradite the brothers was quietly turned down following the conclusion of a hearing in Dubai in February 2023. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: The Guptas are gone. No one is to blame, everyone did their best. The end

Speaking at Daily Maverick’s The Gathering in March 2024, Department of Justice spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said as far as the Department was aware, the fugitive brothers were in Dubai. However, unattributed media reports from the past year have located Atul and Rajesh in Switzerland, the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Vanuatu. 

Daily Maverick reported that the brothers had acquired Vanuatu citizenship even though the country’s financial intelligence unit had warned immigration authorities against them in 2018. DM

Additional reporting by Queenin Masuabi.