PTI, Johannesburg :
South African police on Thursday said they have obtained an arrest warrant for absconding Ajay Gupta, the India-born close aide of scandal- hit former president Jacob Zuma, media reports said.
The Hawks-the police’s elite high-priority crimes unit-on Wednesday arrested three people as they raided the posh home of India-born Guptas, a controversial business family linked to Zuma, who resigned on Thursday.
Ajay Gupta the patriarch of the embattled Gupta family is “on the run” and surrounded by a team of heavily armed bodyguards, Times Live reported quoting police officials.
Hawks officials confirmed that Ajay Gupta was a fugitive from the law and that they had obtained a warrant for his arrest, the report said.
The warrant comes amid media reports indicating that Ajay Gupta’s brother Atul was also being sought.
Their nephew Verun Gupta on Thursday appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on charges of corruption, fraud and theft, the report said.
The charges relate to the theft of 220-million rand (USD 19 million) from the Free State agricultural department.
Verun Gupta appeared alongside his co-accused and Gupta family lieutenants Ronica Ragovan Ashu Chawla Nazeem Howa Kamal Vasrum and Free State agricultural officials Peter Thebetha and Takisi Janki Masiteng and chief of staff of national mining department Sylvia Dlamini.
Howa Gupta Chawla Vasrum and Gupta were released on 200 000 rand bail each while Thebetha Masiteng and Dlamini were each released on 10 000 rand bail, the report said.
South African police on Thursday said they have obtained an arrest warrant for absconding Ajay Gupta, the India-born close aide of scandal- hit former president Jacob Zuma, media reports said.
The Hawks-the police’s elite high-priority crimes unit-on Wednesday arrested three people as they raided the posh home of India-born Guptas, a controversial business family linked to Zuma, who resigned on Thursday.
Ajay Gupta the patriarch of the embattled Gupta family is “on the run” and surrounded by a team of heavily armed bodyguards, Times Live reported quoting police officials.
Hawks officials confirmed that Ajay Gupta was a fugitive from the law and that they had obtained a warrant for his arrest, the report said.
The warrant comes amid media reports indicating that Ajay Gupta’s brother Atul was also being sought.
Their nephew Verun Gupta on Thursday appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on charges of corruption, fraud and theft, the report said.
The charges relate to the theft of 220-million rand (USD 19 million) from the Free State agricultural department.
Verun Gupta appeared alongside his co-accused and Gupta family lieutenants Ronica Ragovan Ashu Chawla Nazeem Howa Kamal Vasrum and Free State agricultural officials Peter Thebetha and Takisi Janki Masiteng and chief of staff of national mining department Sylvia Dlamini.
Howa Gupta Chawla Vasrum and Gupta were released on 200 000 rand bail each while Thebetha Masiteng and Dlamini were each released on 10 000 rand bail, the report said.
