Nikhil Nanda booked in fraud, abetment to suicide case in Uttar Pradesh: Report

Nikhil Nanda, the chairman and managing director of Escorts Kubota, along with several others, are allegedly involved in a legal case involving allegations of fraud and abetment to suicide, according to News18 report. Apparently, an FIR was registered by the Dataganj Police in Badaun district, Uttar Pradesh, following a court directive.

Mint could not independently confirm the developments.

Nikhil Nanda is married to Amitabh Bachchan's daughter Shweta Nanda. He is also the grandson of Raj Kapoor, and cousin to Kareena Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor.

Meanwhile, Escorts Kubota told Mint they are still to receive any legal communication and that the family members have no involvement.

Nikhil Nanda, alongside several executives from his company, are accused of pressuring Jitendra Singh, a tractor dealer, to meet unrealistic sales targets. The News18 report details the accused as Nikhil Nanda, Ashish Baliyan (area manager), Sumit Raghav (sales manager), Dinesh Pant (UP head), Pankaj Bhaskar (financier collection officer), Amit Pant (sales manager), Neeraj Mehra (sales head), and Shishant Gupta (Shahjahanpur dealer).

The complaint was filed by Gyanendra, Singh's brother, who claims that the relentless demands from Nikhil Nanda and his team led to significant distress for Jitendra Singh.

Gyanendra is a resident of Papad Hamzapur village. His brother, Jitendra Singh, previously ran a tractor agency named Jai Kisan Traders in Dataganj alongside his business partner, Lalla Babu.

However, following Lalla Babu’s imprisonment due to a family dispute, Jitendra was left to manage the agency on his own, which has now led to the unfortunate series of events.

The accused are also alleged to have threatened Jitendra with the revocation of his dealership license and the auctioning of his property if sales targets were not met. Jitendra also confided about this to his family.

In his complaint, Gyanendra stated that on November 21, 2024, a group of company officials visited Jitendra and once again pressured him to increase sales, according to News18 report. The very next day, on November 22, Jitendra tragically took his own life.

Escorts Kubota Releases Official Statement

Escorts Kubota limited released an official statement regarding the FIR. In their official statement, the company confirmed co-operation with authorities. However, they rejected the naming of ‘senior officials’ of the company in the FIR and claimed it to be ‘influenced by factors unrelated to the incident'. 

“Such allegations are unfounded and the company is keen to ensure that the proper facts are ascertained”, the official statement read.