- Monday, March 03, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Atul and Rajesh Gupta, who are sought by authorities in South Africa on charges of money-laundering and fraud, applied for asylum in two other nations on the African continent, Africa Intelligence reported on Friday (31).
The brothers or ‘Gupta brothers’ as they are more popularly called, sent applications to Cameroon and Central African Republic, the Paris-based publication which specialises on political and economic developments in Africa, added.
Africa Intelligence also said that the governments of both those countries are considering the Indian-origin Guptas’ requests.
The applications were sent to nations that are located outside the Southern African Development Community, whose members have to abide by the protocol to respect extradition pleas from fellow member-states, including South Africa, Africa Intelligence added.
The Guptas were arrested in the United Arab Emirates in June last year and detained after Interpol placed them on its wanted list.
South Africa has sought the duo’s extradition from the Middle Eastern nation and is currently awaiting an update on the application.
A judicial inquiry in the southern African nation into a state corruption case details links between the Guptas and former president Jacob Zuma, with several witnesses alleging that they worked together to siphon money out of state transport, arms and power firms and decided the appointments to the cabinet.
The allegations have been detained by the Guptas and Zuma.
