BILLIONAIRE businessman and publisher of the newly launched newspaper, The New Age, Atul Kumar Gupta, will appear in the Randburg magistrate's court this morning on an obstruction of justice charge.
Gupta was travelling in his black X5 BMW from his offices in Midrand at about 9pm on Saturday when the police stopped him on the R55 highway. His driver and bodyguard was frisked. Police found a licenced firearm on him. Sources said when the police officers wanted to search Gupta and his car he refused. He then got on the phone and said he was calling General Bheki Cele, but not before telling them that he knew all the top police commissioners and would get them all fired. "All hell broke loose when Gupta refused to be searched. He also boasted that he was well-connected to Cele, threatening the arresting officers that they would pay for their actions," one source said. "This did not go down well with Constables Aubrey Mlotshwa and a Constable Mangema. "The police officers pulled Gupta out of his car, before taking him to the Sandton police station, where a charge was laid against him."
At the police station he was taken to an office, where he was interviewed and released just after midnight. Several managers from Sahara, including Duduzane Zuma, arrived at the police station.
Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kweza confirmed the arrest and said the law would take its course. Kweza said there was nothing wrong with releasing the businessman. The courts would determine whether he was guilty or not. She said the police were conducting their normal patrols on the R55 when they flagged down Gupta's car.
Gupta family spokesperson Gary Naidoo confirmed to CAJ News that his boss was arrested and charged but declined to shed more light on what transpired. He said Gupta was in Durban yesterday.
Cele's spokesperson, Nonkululeko Mbatha, said the general would not comment on the matter. "He (Cele) wouldn't have interfered, whether the person who was being arrested was a family member or a friend. Police arrest whoever. "They have to do their job. If the case is genuine it should go to court," she said.
Gupta has been a close friend of President Jacob Zuma since 1993. Apart from Sahara, the Gupta family trust has interests in mining through Afripalm and owns coal mining company Tigeta Mining & Resources, and JIC, a mining services company. They also publish The Thinker, a political journal. Gupta's brother, Rajesh, and Zuma's son, Duduzane, are business partners who recently clinched the controversial R9 billion ArcelorMittal business deals.
Source: The Sowetan
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