Ajay and Anil Gupta denied bail

An Indian court has refused bail to two members of the Gupta family in connection with allegedly abetting the suicide of a businessman.

Last month, Ajay Gupta, 58, and another family member, Anil Gupta, were arrested in Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand State.

The case concerns the death of Satinder Singh Sawhney, a 52-year-old building developer working on housing projects with the Guptas.

His corpse was found at the bottom of an apartment block on May 24.

Sawhney’s son said he left a suicide note in which he accused the two men of threatening him.

The “Times of India” quoted director of prosecution Girish Pancholi saying that Sawhney had accused Ajay and Anil Gupta of having “forced him to commit suicide” after filing “fake cases against him”.

The two Guptas were detained the next day, with their “weak” bail application denied on Friday, the order from Dehradun’s district court read.

“Anil Gupta and Ajay Gupta can approach the high court, but the case is so serious that it will be difficult for them to secure bail,” government lawyer Guru Prasad Raturi told AFP on Sunday.

The South African government had declared Ajay a fugitive from justice in 2018, but local authorities dropped the charges against him the next year.

Justice Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told AFP on Sunday that Ajay was not the subject of an Interpol Red Notice – a measure that informs Interpol member states of arrest warrants issued in other countries – unlike the younger brothers.

“Our Red Notice was for Atul and Rajesh Gupta. Whilst Ajay is indeed one of the Gupta brothers, he was not listed on the Red Notice sent to Interpol,” he said, adding that Atul and Rajesh were most recently reported to still be in the UAE.

“As we understand it, if they move to any other country which is under the jurisdiction of Interpol, Interpol is obliged to inform us and the ‘host’ nation.”

Cape Times