According to Pankaj, owner of the conglomerate Oswal Group Global, Vasundhara was arrested by Ugandan law enforcement agencies while on a visit to an extra-neutral alcohol plant being set up by her father’s PRO Industries at a $100 million investment. The arrest was made on charges of abducting a former employee of the Oswal family, Mukesh Kumar Menaria. On October 9, Vasundhara and her lawyer, Rita Ngabire, were formally arrested and sent to Nakasongola prison.The Oswals accuse the Ugandan police of “extorting thousands of dollars” from them for the “rightful bail she deserves.” The Ugandan police have denied these allegations, asking the billionaire family to show proof and name the officers they bribed. The police also rubbished claims of mistreatment, arguing that cleaning duties in jail did not violate Vasundhara’s rights.At the heart of this controversy is chef Menaria, who has worked at the Oswals for seven years. The family has accused Menaria of stealing valuables from them and naming them as the guarantor for a $200,000 loan he took. It has been alleged that the Oswals forcibly took him to Uganda. Menaria has now been arrested by the Ugandan police after Pankaj’s letter to their president.Vasundahra’s younger sister has posted on Instagram that the man she was accused of kidnapping and murdering was already found in Tanzania, in state custody. The family has also hinted at corporate rivalry behind the “false accusation” and subsequent arrest of Vasundhara.However, the Oswals have been no stranger to controversies. They have been accused of tax evasion and siphoning funds from Burrup Fertilisers, a company they set up in Australia, once their adopted home land, forcing them to shift their base to Switzerland. A 16-bedroom mansion they bought in Perth was ordered to be demolished by Australian authorities. Pankaj is also engaged in a legal battle with his mother and siblings over his father’s property in India.The Oswals have been putting up a brave face amid all these controversies, even blaming the western media of racial biases while covering a successful Indian industrialist. They usually don’t complain about the attention, though; they are known to be ostentatious with their wealth and success. When they bought their Swiss villa off a Greek businesswoman, they transformed it by incorporating Vaastu and Indian interiors. Sharing pictures on Instagram, Vasundhara said in a May 2023 post that it was her family’s dream to create a little India away from India. A graduate from a business school in Switzerland and also the executive director of PRO Industries, her present desire would only be to be able to shift homes fast.
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