Sairam Uppu: Building company owner accused of kidnapping after alleged plot to make ex-wife’s partner leave Australia

The leader of an Indian political party’s Victorian chapter has been charged after allegedly forcing his ex-wife’s new husband out of the country.

Sairam Uppu, 40, appeared in the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday and lodged a bid for bail on charges including kidnapping, extortion and assault.

He has yet to enter pleas.

Detective Senior Constable Martin Markovski told the court that police allege Mr Uppu, alongside others, had attended the man’s workplace on June 6, threatening him and taking his passport.

Mr Uppu, the owner of a home-building company in Melbourne’s west, allegedly threatened the man and kicked his arm at the Truganina office.

The man was allegedly taken to Mr Uppu’s home where he was held for the following two nights before he was placed on a flight to India on June 8.

Constable Markovski said it was alleged the man was told that he was “not allowed to go home”, wanted by the Australian Federal Police and would be jailed.

“He questioned if he could go stay with a friend and was denied that,” Constable Markovski said.

In his statement to police, the alleged victim claimed Mr Uppu “called me a low caste and said ‘how dare you marry my wife’”.

A witness who allegedly visited Mr Uppu’s home on June 7 claimed the man “appeared fearful”, Constable Markovski said.

The court was told three other men had been charged over the alleged plot, while police were still working on identifying one individual.

Constable Markovski said CCTV had been obtained from the Heidelberg post office allegedly showing Mr Uppu filling out a statutory declaration on June 7 that was later taken to a police station to be witnessed as the alleged victim signed it.

According to the detective, Mr Uppu allegedly told police in a two-hour interview the man had asked him for “a favour”.

“When the complainant arrives in India, the applicant (Mr Uppu) was to provide those statements to police,” Constable Markovski said.

The court was told the alleged victim returned to Australia on July 13 and filed a complaint with police.

Constable Markovski said Mr Uppu and his ex-wife divorced in October 2023, but the accused man had not told many people out of fear he would be judged by his community.

“He does say a divorce is seen as an embarrassment,” the officer said.

The court was told police were conducting checks with the AFP and Interpol to determine if documents, allegedly found on the phone of a co-accused, were genuine from the Indian police department.

Mr Uppu’s barrister, Mihal Greener, said her client had given a “parallel narrative” when arrested by police that would exonerate him from the allegations.

She said her client claimed the man had been kicked out by his wife and didn’t have anywhere to go, so Mr Uppu assisted him and drove him to the airport.

“A couple of weeks later he could come back once he’d sorted this out,” she said.

“There was certainly nothing compelling him to get on that plane.”

Ms Greener questioned why there was no allegation of further contact, intimidation or efforts to rectify the marriage in the two months before Mr Uppu was arrested.

“It’s also interesting that the wife didn’t report him missing to police for three days,” she said.

The man’s wife is not accused of any wrongdoing.

She told the court there were “triable issues” and the case was likely to face significant delays out to 2026, urging Justice John Champion not to remove her client’s liberty until then.

A friend of Mr Uppu’s offered up a $26,000 surety from his savings to support bail, saying he did not have any concerns about the accused man breaching bail conditions.

“I know him very well, He’s a very good person,” he said.

Ms Greener told the court that her client had strong ties to the community and was the owner of SmartVille Homes that was working on nine projects in Melbourne’s west.

She said police had sought to paint her client’s role as the Victorian president of the BRS Party – an Indian political party – as some sort of “nefarious organisation” when it was really a small group of 50-60 people who engaged in charity work.

Prosecutors opposed bail, saying police hold “extreme concerns” for the ongoing safety of the man and his wife, claiming Mr Uppu allegedly held a grudge.

Prosecutor Stephen Devlin said it was the police case the man was allegedly held and forced to leave the country through fear and threats.

“There’s no locked doors, no ropes, no chains, but the complainant makes it clear why he didn’t leave,” he said.

Justice Champion reserved his decision on bail, saying he needed time to consider the case.

Mr Uppu will return to court at a later date.