Damon Beard: 'Could the Ajay Gupta video be fake?'
Could the search finally be over? A South African man has said that he has spotted the infamous Ajay Gupta in Dubai, and it seems like he has no intention of making a return to SA. However, Damon is unsure whether it was real or doctored footage.
A few weeks ago, we chatted to Rajesh Sundaram, senior news editor of Gupta-owned news channel ANN7. In my chat with him, he lifted the lid on the operations of the Guptas, and I was absolutely blown away by what I heard.
Read: 'ANN7 was a propaganda machine' says author of tell-all Gupta Book
While everyone was still speculating where Ajay Gupta was, a South African businessman, Justin van Pletzen, bumped into him in Dubai and it seemed that it was all smiles from him.
He is currently declared a fugitive in South Africa, so when Justin said that he spotted him outside the Indian Consulate in Dubai, he had to go up and chat with him.
Justin was out for a smoke and saw Ajay coming out of the building with what looked like a guard beside him.
Instead of flipping out, he decided to offer a handshake and calmly questioned him about when he plans to return to South Africa to face his criminal charges. "They are not giving a reply, the day they are giving a reply I will go there," Gupta replied.
Read: Hawks want Ajay Gupta to hand himself in after spotted in Dubai
I'm not too sure how Justin managed to play it this cool and keep calm? I would have probably screamed my head off, especially after what the Guptas are said to have done.
Check out the brief encounter below:
We reached out to Justin for comment after the 'run in'. Here's what he had to say:
My producer, Simon Carter asked Justin about the video and this is what he had to say:
All media outlets have taken this video at face value. After seeing the footage, do you think it could have been faked?