Ashwini K Puri, the mainstay of Kochi-based Lord Krishna Bank and one of the prominent Indian business faces in strife-torn regions of Africa, was found murdered in the Angolan capital Luanda today.Sixty eight-year-old Puri’s body, bearing signs of severe torture, was found in a luxury hotel suite in Luanda.He had recently set up a factory in Luanda in collaboration with the Angolan government to manufacture leather boots and shoes for the Angolan military. He reached Luanda on Tuesday and had even scheduled a meeting today with Indian Ambassador Ravi Mohan Aggarwal.Aggarwal told The Indian Express over phone from Luanda that Puri — he had checked into the presidential suite of Hotel President Meridien — was probably killed early this morning. The body had severe wounds and his hands and legs had been tied.‘‘He was most probably strangled and, by the looks of it, severely tortured before being killed. According to the police, it appears that he had resisted his assailants, but one is in no position to make any firm conclusion at the moment. The police are investigating the matter,’’ said Aggarwal.Puri had been touring countries in south and west Africa to expand his business. Apart from being a 75 per cent shareholder of Lord Krishna Bank, he had just floated Mohan Exports.In recent years, under Puri’s leadership, the Lord Krishna Bank graduated to a modern-day bank, offering retail banking to corporate banking through its nationwide network.The bank recently opened its 103rd branch and planned to add 12 branches by May. The bank also applied to the Reserve Bank of India for opening branches in Afghanistan and planned forays into Ghana, Sudan and Mozambique.Puri’s secretary Bala said: ‘‘We recently set up a factory in Luanda for manufacturing shoes. In fact, it’s yet to be named. Being a joint venture with the Angolan government, he (Puri) had gone to meet the partners.’’The new factory, according to Aggarwal, was one of the first major Indian business ventures in Angola.‘‘Although the civil war here ended nearly two years ago, very few Indian businessmen have shown interest. He was definitely one of the few taking immense interest in Africa and had earned a good reputation. In fact, he was to meet me today,’’ he said.‘‘His killing will obviously have some negative impact on the confidence of investors.’’While not commenting on police investigations, Aggarwal said it was unlikely that any rebel group was behind the gruesome incident.‘‘The body has been sent for postmortem and once that is over, we will make all arrangements to send the body home.’’Puri’s son Mohan was also trying to board a flight from Delhi for Johannesburg on his way to Luanda. — (with Dev Chatterjee in Mumbai)
