Mumbai: Sahara Group Chief Subrata Roy died in a Mumbai hospital yesterday of a cardiorespiratory arrest following an extended battle with complications arising from metastatic malignancy, hypertension and diabetes, according to a company statement. He was 75.

Roy, who called himself the Chief Guardian of Sahara India Pariwar, was known for his political connections and controversial ventures in the world of business and finance.

Making a modest start in 1978 with a capital of only Rs. 2,000, he built Sahara India over the decades. The Group, on its website, claims it has 9 crore investors and customers, a networth of Rs. 2,59,900 crore, 5,000 establishments and 30,970 acres of land bank. The company was once hailed by Time magazine as the second-largest employer in India after Indian Railways

Roy built his empire by collecting deposits from millions of poor and rural Indians with limited or no access to formal banking services. The cookie, however, crumbled after market regulator SEBI moved against him. The case involved collection of over Rs. 24,000 crore from three crore individuals. An ambitious businessman, Roy once owned an airline, a Formula One team, an IPL cricket team, plush hotels in London and New York and financial companies. He sold his airline, Air Sahara, to Jet Airways which itself collapsed later.

He hosted film stars at his events and had “friends” across political parties. But over the years, he came to be identified more with Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party. When Mulayam Singh became the Chief Minister of UP again in December 1993, Roy’s relationship grew deeper. He was also closely associated with Amar Singh, a close associate of Mulayam Singh.

Roy was sent to jail on March 4, 2014, for not paying an outstanding amount of Rs. 10,000 crore. The Court said he would not be released until he brought in Rs. 5,000 crore in cash and Rs. 5,000 crore by way of bank guarantee.

In 2013, Sahara sent 127 trucks containing 31,669 cartons of over three crore application forms and two crore redemption vouchers to the SEBI office. He stayed in jail for over two years and was out on parole in 2016.