South African police arrest eight in influence-peddling probe

Members of the Hawks, South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation

South Africa’s elite Hawks police unit has arrested eight people so far in its investigations into high-level influence-peddling centering around the Indian-born Gupta family, wealthy friends of ousted president Jacob Zuma, a statement said.

Two other suspects were still at large in South Africa, it said, while another three – two of whom were described as “of Indian nativity” – were outside the country. Police were asking for assistance in executing the arrest warrants, it added.

Zuma and the three Gupta brothers have denied any wrongdoing.