Mumbai: The Dadar police suspects that a decomposed body found at Marine Drive a fortnight ago is of Harshad Thakkar, the chairman and managing director of Ashapura Intimates Fashion Limited. Thakkar has been missing since October 2, leaving behind a note stating he had left his home and work following losses he incurred in his business. A Dadar police official, requesting anonymity, said, “We suspect a dead body found at Marine Drive is of Harshad Thakkar.
We had informed his wife Darshana and other family members. The body has been sent for a DNA test at the FSL Kalina. The identity will be ascertain once the reports are available in two days.” In a note left behind by Thakkar, he had apologised for letting the company’s stakeholders down and causing them financial loss. “I do not want anything from anyone. I do not have any requirements and I do not know what will happen to me. I am asking for your forgiveness.
I cannot live with burden of the fact that I am responsible for the losses suffered by so many people.” In the same note, Harshad blamed his rivals for the losses incurred by him. A missing complaint was registered by his wife Darshana. Thakkar came to Mumbai in 1993 and started working as a salesman at his uncle’s lingerie store at Vardhaman Nagar, Mulund. Ashapura Intimates Fashion Lingerie houses popular brands like Valentine and Tricci.
In 1999, he started his own business at Mulund and named it Ashapura Apparels and launched his brand as Valentine. He started a new unit in 2000 at Santacruz. In 2013, Ashapura Intimates Fashions Ltd was listed at the Bombay Stock Exchange. In 2012, the yearly turnover was Rs101 crore, which increased to Rs131 crore in 2013 and Rs163 crore in 2014. In the last few months, the company’s share dropped from Rs445 to Rs350 per share in September-end. The company issued a statement on October 10, “This is to inform you that a missing complaint has been filed with Mumbai police by the family of our MD. The complaint is being presently investigated.”