CHENNAI: Even as Chennai-based room-aggregator start-up Stayzilla’s founder and CEO Yogendra Vasupal was arrested in Chennai on charges of fraud filed by advertising firm Jigsaw Solutions, a blog post written by Vasupal--prior to being arrested and published by his wife and co-founder Rupal Vasupal on Wednesday, has alleged foul play from several sections. It also details alleged harassment from vendors and the start-ups landlord in Bengaluru.
Yogendra Vasupal was arrested in Chennai late on Tuesday night at around 10 PM on charges of having defrauded Jigsaw Solutions of Rs 1.72 crore. While early reports alleged that Vasupal had confessed to the accusation, an update on the blog post by Rupal Vasupal early on Wednesday morning denied the reports.
“Yogendra has currently been remanded in Police custody without any CONFESSION... He was taken to the magistrate at 10 PM though courts do not function after 6 PM. His whereabouts were not known and the lawyer and our family had to go from one station to another looking for him, since his arrest . This shows how money and influence can supercede true and thorough investigation in a country which talks so much about start-ups and culture,” wrote Rupal in an update.
Earlier, Yogendra Vasupal began his blog post with a sinister warning, reminiscent of any horror/thriller movie, writing, “Help! I need everybody… If you are seeing this line, it means that the pre-saved draft was published without the time to remove a line. Likely, because I am under duress with no time to edit.”
He went on to detail two cases that have vexed the founders and led to continuous harassment. The first alleges assault and harassment from the landlord of Stayzilla’s office premises in Bengaluru. “The first case is against a politician who was our landlord. We have the video and audio proof of an assault that includes a verbal threat to kill us. The second case is against us from a media agency with which the company had a dispute over deficiency of services and to whom we had asked to take it up in court,” he wrote. The blog post also included a video clip of
the assault.
On the charge of fraud by Jigsaw Solutions, Vasupal wrote, “I was told that there is a case against me by somebody from Chennai for cheating, intimidation and etc. I recognised the name in the complainant and informed them that there was a dispute between two companies and we had asked the other company to take it up in the court. I do not personally owe anybody money. They seem confused on such a basic matter. This was a clear civil case. I also pointed out that we have been asking the other company to take it to court if they felt they were wronged.”
Vasupal also alleged harassment by police officers prior to being arrested in Chennai on Thursday. “On Sunday, I got to know that the complaint filed against us had false accusations like Sanchit Singhi (third co-founder of Stayzilla) going to the vendor’s office to threaten with 2 henchmen of some MLA. Besides, there was a mention of me calling him and threatening him of dire consequences if he pursued the matter further. I laughed and said I had never spoken to him and would like him to get any call records proving the same,” Vasupal added.
The blog post also included pictures of a doll alongside Sanchit Singhi’s son that was received by Singhi on March 9, that they allege is a possible threat.