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Who is Mukesh Menaria, the man Vasundhara Oswal is accused of murdering in Uganda?
The billionaire Oswal family claims that charges against Vasundhara are false, and that Mukesh Menaria has been found alive and well in Tanzania.
Vasundhara Oswal, the daughter of Indian-origin billionaire Pankaj Oswal, has spent over three weeks behind bars in Uganda. The 26-year-old has been charged with kidnapping and murdering Mukesh Menaria, who worked on her family’s private jet and as a domestic help in their residences across the world.
The billionaire Oswal family claims that charges against Vasundhara are false, that Menaria is alive and well in Tanzania, and that the false accusations were made by a disgruntled employee who has since admitted to the fact.
Charged with crimes like kidnapping and murder
On October 1, Vasundhara Oswal was at the site of her factory that her family is developing in Uganda when she was taken away for questioning by armed officials.
“As we now know, this ordeal began when armed corrupt officials took her away in a car under the pretence of questioning, after already conducting an unwarranted raid at the plant, where they found nothing,” Pankaj Oswal’s younger daughter and Vasundhara Oswal’s sister, Riddhi Oswal, told HT.com in an email on October 23.
“We even filed for contempt of court after yet another day, but instead of releasing her, they took her to a lower court and charged her with inadmissible crimes like kidnapping and
murder, immediately sending her to prison,” Riddhi Oswal said.
The Oswal family claims that corrupt Ugandan authorities are hand-in-glove with their business competitors. “It has been absolutely shocking to see how much power these corrupt officials have and how they are clearly working in collaboration with business competitors who are determined to destroy our family and my sister at any cost,” Riddhi Oswal told HT.com.
Where is Mukesh Menaria?
The Oswal family says that Mukesh Menaria was found alive and well in Tanzania. He was apprehended in Dar es Salaam, the largest city of Tanzania.
Menaria has since signed an affidavit, a copy of which was seen by HT.com, saying he was never kidnapped or tortured by his employers.
“He has openly admitted that his stay in Uganda was entirely voluntary, and he left the country of his own accord before being apprehended in Tanzania. This further disproves the baseless accusations made against Vasundhara,” Riddhi Oswal told HT.com.
“While Menaria is currently under investigation in Tanzania for his own actions, he has still provided support to his former employers by submitting an affidavit, which has been duly notarized by the Commissioner of Oaths,” she added.
The affidavit states that “misunderstandings and disputes” arose between the Oswal family and Mukesh Menaria.
In his signed affidavit, Menaria said the disagreements made him do things against his employers that would be considered “dishonesty, breach of confidentiality and/ or misappropriation of trade secrets.”
Due to this, the Oswal family did not allow him to travel to India. Instead, Menaria stayed in Uganda of his own free will as per an agreement between the two parties. However, Menaria’s son considered this harassment and filed charges of harassment against the family with the police of Uganda.
Who is Mukesh Menaria?
Mukesh Menaria, a native of Rajasthan, was employed by the Oswal family as a cabin crew for their private jet and help in their residences across the world. He had been their employee since 2017.
However, the relationship between Menaria and the Oswal family soured earlier this year.
(Also read: Billionaire Pankaj Oswal has locked himself in ‘secret location’ while daughter Vasundhara is jailed in Uganda)
