Overseas Indian billionaire Pankaj Oswal and his family are exploring various legal options against Ugandan authorities who illegally detained their daughter, Vasundhara Oswal, for more than three weeks. The family, which had planned to commission their newly established extra neutral alcohol (ENA) plant in October, is also considering relocating the plant out of Uganda.
“How can you expect a fair deal in a country that can’t protect a young businesswoman like me from the hands of corrupt officials who extort money from people like us by slapping false charges?” asks the young Oswal in an exclusive interview with The New Indian Express during her brief visit to India, following her release from three weeks of illegal detention in Uganda.
Vasundhara Oswal was ‘arrested’ at her factory premises in Luwero, Uganda, during the first week of October, just one day after returning to the country to oversee the commissioning of the new ENA plant. She had been in Uganda for the past few years, overseeing the plant’s setup.
“The armed individuals who raided the factory didn’t have an official order or arrest warrant. I was detained without charge, repeatedly moved from jail to jail, and held in unsanitary conditions, with inadequate food, no medication, and no proper access to my family or lawyer. In the end, I was accused of the most serious crimes, without evidence or explanation,” she said.
The Ugandan officials were apparently acting on an ‘Interpol case’ filed in Switzerland, alleging the kidnap and murder of one Mukesh Menaria, a former staff member of the Oswal family. While the ‘Interpol case’ had reportedly charged Pankaj Oswal with criminal offenses, the Ugandan authorities who raided the factory forcefully took Vasundhara Oswal in an apparent effort to put pressure on her father, a global businessman, in order to extort more money, she claims.
“These charges of kidnap and murder were entirely fabricated. I swore under oath twice that Mukesh had been subjected to no wrongdoing. These allegations were finally debunked when they found Mukesh alive and hiding in a hotel in Tanzania,” Oswal stated. She added that each time she was moved from one jail to another, officials and lawyers demanded money, promising to help her escape the false charges.
“My father transferred several thousand dollars to them just to secure my release.”
Meanwhile, Pankaj Oswal, who holds Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status, filed a petition with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), requesting urgent action in response to what he claims was the illegal detention of his daughter by Ugandan authorities.
Vasundhara Oswal’s lawyer, Cherie Blair CBE from Omnia Strategy LLP, had earlier pointed out, “At the same time Vasundhara was seized from her Luwero plant, her company’s in-house lawyer, Rita Ngabire, was also detained. Again, no legal basis was provided. Vasundhara was initially detained for nearly 90 hours. Omnia Strategy understands that detention without charge for this length of time is unlawful under Ugandan law, as the maximum allowed period is 48 hours. International human rights conventions also state that the length of her detention constitutes arbitrary detention, for which Uganda is accountable.”
Cherie Blair CBE, KC, and Omnia Strategy LLP were retained as international human rights counsel to secure Vasundhara’s release and defend her rights.
“Finally, it was only after top-level intervention from the Ugandan government, facilitated by international agencies, that I was granted bail,” says Vasundhara Oswal.
“We now understand that my arbitrary detention was linked to false allegations that our family was involved in the disappearance of Mukesh Menaria, who had taken a loan from us but was also caught stealing valuable jewelry from us in Uganda. We terminated his employment in August 2024,” Vasundhara explained.
“It became clear that this was nothing more than business rivalry. Some Indian businessmen, who are in the same line of work as us in Uganda, were behind these allegations. One of them even promised to help me get out of detention if I transferred part of my shares in our ENA business,” she added.
Vasundhara Oswal’s defense against the false allegations was supported in Ugandan court, where evidence in the form of affidavits signed by Mukesh Menaria were presented by her lawyers. These affidavits stated: “I affirm that at no point was I kidnapped or tortured by my employers [the Oswal family], and I stayed voluntarily.” Mukesh also stated, “…I left Uganda of my own free will, intending to return to India, and was arrested by Tanzanian police in Misenyi District.”
However, despite leading PRO Industries’ $150 million investment in the ENA plant—the largest in East Africa—Vasundhara Oswal says, “I’ve lost faith in the system there and am seriously considering moving the business out of Uganda. Though we will continue operating there for the time being, we will fight these false charges and the inhumane treatment I endured under international human rights provisions.”
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