Charity workers arrested in India over group attack
Charity workers accused of severely beating a fundraiser from Barnet, after he started investigating missing funds, have been arrested in India.

The attack, which happened three years ago in Jamnagar, in Gujarat state, left father-of-two Vinoo Sachania, 50, of George Crescent, Muswell Hill, with 35 fractured bones.

Mr Sachania, who was a former member of the Indian-based charity Swadhyay Parivar, claims he was beaten up by a member of the same charity during a family ceremony. Earlier this month, organisers from the charity were arrested by Indian police in Gujarat in connection with the 2003 attack and the death of Mr Sachania's friend Pankaj Trivendi, who was also investigating the charity.

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The attack caused Mr Sachania to have six metal plates inserted into his legs, and 30 screws in various other bones.

"I was hit by a baseball bat and was blinded in one eye," he said. "I was at a religious ceremony marking the anniversary of my father's death. All our friends and relatives were there. I have never had any other enemies in my life.

"Eight people came behind me and had my head. One man hit me with a baseball bat. Five other friends all former charity members were attacked at the same time."

Mr Sachania became suspicious about the charity in 2001, after it gathered millions of rupees for victims of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and then publicly claimed to have built 4,534 homes a few months later.

"It became clear that it is impossible for a company, yet alone a charity to build this many houses in just three months, as it said it had," he said. "I asked them to show me where they were.

"I started enquires of my own and found out that they had never built a single house, but they got millions of rupees to do so."

So far nine people have been arrested in connection with the attacks and murder.

Reliance Petroleum Limited (“RPL”) has announced that its 580 KBPSD export oriented refinery, coming up in a Special Economic Zone at Jamnagar, is progressing as per schedule and is well on its way towards its scheduled completion by December 2008.


The Project has achieved significant progress on various fronts including engineering, procurement, construction and statutory approvals.

Highlights of key developments during the quarter are as follows:

• SEZ approvals received

• Basic engineering nearly completed

• Major purchase commitments made; All long-lead and critical equipments ordered

• Construction work begun and progressing rapidly and infrastructure readiness achieved

• More than 30,000 people working on the Project across locations globally



During the quarter, RPL received necessary approvals for setting up the Project as a unit in the SEZ at Jamnagar. The Company has also received environmental and other statutory approvals required for the Project.

The Company has achieved excellent engineering progress during the quarter. The basic engineering work is nearly complete and detailed engineering work is progressing as per schedule at various offices, seamlessly connected across the globe.

The Project has made significant progress on the procurement front. All long-lead and critical equipments as well as various bulk items have been ordered. Their deliveries have also begun at the site. The Company has made rapid progress on the infrastructure development and construction as well. The work front for several critical activities has been released and site grading is nearly complete. The road development as well civil works are in full swing.

During the last quarter, The Company has successfully completed its equity financing through an initial public offering, which received an unprecedented response from domestic and international investors and created several new records in the history of the Indian capital markets. RPL has also made significant progress on the debt funding of the Project and is working with a consortium of banks for raising syndicated loans of US$1.5 billion.

This quarter also marks the significant development of RPL’s strategic alliance with Chevron Corporation, USA. Chevron India Holdings, an indirect subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, purchased 225 million shares representing 5% of equity capital in RPL from Reliance Industries. Mr Jeet S Bindra, President of Chevron Global Refining has joined the Board of Directors of Reliance Petroleum with immediate effect.

RPL believes that the strategic relationship will benefit the Company as it will be able to leverage the combined strengths of RIL and Chevron in several areas. Chevron Corporation is the 5th largest integrated energy company in the World with operations spread across 180 countries and refining capacity of over 2 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Looking ahead, the global refining industry fundamentals continue to stay robust. Despite high crude prices, demand for petroleum products demonstrated strong resilience and reinforce confidence on the long term prospects. New capacities are lagging behind due to project delays

and cancellations. Limited additions to the global conversion capacity and widening light heavy differentials indicate that the complex margins would remain stronger even in the future.

Commenting on the progress Mr Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Petroleum Ltd said “We are delighted with the unprecedented response to RPL’s IPO. Our source of inspiration is the trust that over a million shareholders have reposed in us.

I am encouraged by the significant progress achieved by RPL on various fronts during the quarter. The refinery project has taken-off in full swing and is well on its way towards its scheduled completion by December 2008. RPL’s world-scale, complex refinery is well poised to capitalise on the opportunities unfolding in the global refining scenario towards creation of superior and sustainable value for our shareholders.”