Who is Vasundhra Oswal, daughter of billionaire Pankaj Oswal, who has been allegedly detained in Uganda

Pankaj Oswal , an Indian origin billionaire and industrialist, has filed an appeal with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, claiming that his daughter was ‘unlawfully detained’ in Uganda. Pankaj Oswal has alleged that his daughter, Vasundhara Oswal , has been unlawfully detained without trial since October 1, citing "corporate and political manipulation." He has called for international intervention to secure her release.


As per reports, Vasundhara Oswal was ‘seized by around 20 armed men’ on October 1 from an extra-neutral alcohol plant set up by the family in Uganda. She has been denied basic rights, including access to family and legal representation. However, local authorities have connected Vasundhara Oswal's imprisonment in a Ugandan jail to an ongoing investigation related to a missing person case.



In an open letter to the Ugandan government, her brother said, ““This is all because of corporate jealousy from a 68 year old man who couldn’t take that she, a young 26 year old woman, became bigger than him in three years of her hard dedicated work, and wanted his competition to go down no matter what.”


On Vasundhara’s social media account, a post that was uploaded a week ago, alleges that Oswal was ‘detained among shoes’ for more than 90 hours. Having snatched her phone, the local authorities in Uganda didn’t allow her to contact her family or her lawyers. The conditions in which she was kept were really bad. Furthermore, the post also claimed that she did not receive any medical attention when she was having a major panic attack.



Who is Vasundhra Oswal?
Born in 1999, Vasundhra is the daughter of industrialist Pankaj Oswal. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Switzerland. She was detained in Uganda, when she was on a site visit, in which her father had invested $100 million. The site was going to be the the first and only grain-based ENA (extra-neutral alcohol) production facility in East Africa, which is used in beverages, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.


As per reports, Vasundhra, few of her colleagues and the lawyer company’s lawyer, Rita Ngabire were detained by armed men, who provided no proof of identification or an official warrant.


Pankaj Oswal has claimed that her daughter is being accused falsely in a case made by a former employee. This employee had stolen valuable assets and taken out a $200,000 loan, for which the Oswal family had acted as guarantors.



Vasundhra was serving as the Executive Director of Axis Minerals. At PRO Industries and Axis Minerals, her responsibilities include managing investments, overseeing financial operations, and coordinating with government agencies to ensure regulatory compliance and facilitate new business ventures.


She has participated in many projects like- establishment of a carbon dioxide-capturing plant, initiative to supply recycled water to beverage companies, reducing corporate debt, and launching sustainability projects.