Before tragically ending his life, an Indian businessman left an emotional suicide note in which he detailed how one of the notorious Gupta brothers, Ajay Gupta, made his life a living hell.
Ajay together with his brother-in-law, Anil have since been arrested in connection with the suicide.
In the suicide note addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, real estate agent mogul Satinder Singh Sawhney, who killed himself by jumping from a building, stated that Ajay, who he described as someone who has “a very dangerous past”, threatened him and his business partner, asking them to “Google what he has done in South Africa”.
Sawhney claims in the suicide note, which we have seen, that in South Africa, Ajay is known for summoning government ministers and politicians to the Guptas’ compound in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, where he allegedly instructed them to award multi-million-rand contracts to companies linked to or owned by the Indian family.
The businessman further stated in the suicide note that he entered into a business deal with Anil, who promised to “invest 85 percent of whatever money will be required….”.
Sawhney added that when he entered into the agreement with Anil, he was unaware that the businessman had “some very dangerous planning in his mind”.
Sawhney said that after one of their projects involving “public funds” started, “Anil Gupta became silent and stopped talking to us.” His brother Ajay started involving himself in everything.”
Sawhney claims they were so afraid of Ajay that they couldn’t “say anything in front of him as he had a very dangerous past, as he himself told us to check on Google what he had done in South Africa”.
“Ajay Gupta created too much pressure on me and my partner because of his background and his behaviour of threatening.”
Sawhney didn’t give more explicit details on how the Guptas pressured him or blackmailed him, but sources within the Indian authorities claimed the businessman and his partner were “to hand over two major construction projects” to them.
A fortnight ago, Dehradun police arrested Ajay and Anil and charged them with suicide abetment.
Dehradun police spokesperson, Superintendent Ajai Singh, confirmed that Ajay and Anil were arrested and appeared in the local magistrate’s court where they were denied bail and ordered to appear after 14 days for bail application.
He said that although Ajay was one of the three “Gupta brothers of South Africa”, unlike Atul and Rajesh Gupta, he is not on the interpol notice.
Sawhney’s son, Ranbir, also opened a criminal case agains Ajay and Anil at Dehradun last Thursday.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, confirmed that the National Prosecuting Authority had obtained a warrant of arrest against Ajay’s brother, Atul, and the younger brother, Rajesh. “Ajay Gupta is also a person of interest to the state,” Phiri said.
In April 2023, the United Emirates rejected South Africa’s bid to extradite the Gupta brothers to face a slew of criminal charges. The brothers have been under the radar since they fled South Africa, and their whereabouts remains a matter of speculation.
They snuck out of South Africa following their alleged involvement in a wide range of corruption, including the looting of state resources through government tenders
