Subrata Roy, chief of Indian company Sahara, has been arrested in Lucknow, capital of Utter Pradesh, following a Supreme Court order.
Sahara has been a household name in Bangladesh as a sponsor of national cricket team since 2012.
The Supreme Court had issued the warrant against him for not appearing in court in a case linked to his alleged failure to return investors’ money.
He will remain in custody till Mar 4 as the court refused to take up his plea against the warrant today, saying there is “no urgency,” reports NDTV.
In Delhi, his son Sumanto, however claimed his father has surrendered. “Being a law abiding citizen Subrata Roy wilfully decided to submit himself to Lucknow police,” he said. But the court has asked for proof that he surrendered.
Indian media reported, Roy on Friday morning had declared he was “not absconding”, rejecting speculation after a police team that landed with a non-bailable warrant at his sprawling residence on Thursday evening could not find him.
“With folded hands and all humility I ask the honourable judges to leave me under house arrest with my ailing mother till March 3,” NDTV quoted Roy as saying in an emotional two-page statement.
He said he “can’t handle this level of agony and humiliation” and accused the media of indulging in “bullying and character assassination”.
On Thursday, a team of six cops searched Roy’s premises for two hours. His 92-year-old mother was at home, the cops said, surrounded by a team of doctors, but Roy was not there.
The Sahara chief said on Friday that he was out consulting doctors on his mother’s medical reports and then meeting lawyers at the time.
He has repeatedly cited his mother’s illness as a reason for not appearing in court.
His lawyers filed a petition in the top court on Thursday offering an “unconditional apology” for not appearing in court and requested that the arrest warrant be recalled.
He also said, “I am not that human being, who will abscond. In fact, being a law-abiding citizen, I shall hate myself to do any such thing ever in my life.”
Market regulator Sebi has accused Roy and three other Sahara directors of not refunding crores to millions of investors in two Sahara companies. Sebi alleges that the funds were raised illegally. In August 2012, the Supreme Court ordered Sahara to refund the money with interest.
Sahara claims it has refunded the money, but Sebi rejects that claim.
Source: Bd news24