July 7, 2010
Businessman husband picked up from international airport in a dramatic swoop
The niece of one of India’s wealthiest women filed a complaint of dowry-related battery and assault with the Gamdevi police last week.
While it is not clear what the immediate trigger was, Mana Chatterjee, 39, daughter of Tina Ambani’s elder sister, Jagruti, told the cops that she was unable to take the beatings and the harassment any longer and therefore reached out for help from the police. What emerged was a horrifying story of thirteen long years of domestic abuse.
Mana met and married Arup Chatterjee, 44, in Delhi on November 27, 1996, after a brief courtship. According to her complaint, that was the start of all her troubles.
She alleged that Arup wanted all the baratis to be ferried by a private airplane and also expected a Rolex, neither of which materialised.
In the complaint, Mana added that Arup often hit her after getting drunk and even tried to kill her on several occasions. She further alleged that Arup recently forced her into transferring Rs 28 lakh from Mana’s personal account.
The couple has two children of school going age.
Mana’s mother who is the fourth of Tina Ambani’s seven sisters - Tina is the youngest - also lives in south Mumbai and is in fact in a business partnership with Arup Chatterjee and her son Neil. They manufacture spare parts for automobiles.
Following Mana’s complaint, Arup was picked up from Sahar Airport in a dramatic swoop, just as he landed from a flight from Hong Kong on Monday evening by officers of the Gamdevi police station.
"We have lodged a case against Arup Chatterjee for dowry harassment and extortion. He has been arrested and we are investigating the matter," said DCP Zone II Anil Kumbhare.
Mana Chatterjee
Arup was produced in the Girgaum court on Tuesday and remanded to police custody till July 12. “The main question is why is Arup harassing Mana for money after so many years, especially since they are financially sound,” an officer from the Gamdevi Police Station said. The cops have started recoding statements of friends and family members.
Arup has been booked under sections 498 (A) (Enticing or taking away or detaining with criminal intent a married woman), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 386 (Extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt).
When contacted, Mana confirmed that she had filed the complaint against her husband but declined to elaborate further. “It's a personal matter. I don't want to talk about it,” she said.
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