The mysterious Hinduja brothers

THEY did something that neither the Tories nor his Labour enemies could dream of achieving. They unwittingly brought about the downfall of Peter Mandelson, Tony Blair's Prince of Darkness.

They are the mysterious Hinduja brothers, friends of the powerful and famous.

Press Association

Srichand (left) and Gopichand Hinduja

Mandelson resigned after being accused of wrongdoing over one brother's successful application for a British passport.

Three of the key members are now back in India, under investigation in the Bofors affair - India's biggest corruption scandal, which brought down the government of Rajiv Gandhi. The brothers are accused of receiving 6 million over the purchase of 400 guns from the Swedish arms manufacturers in 1986.

The brothers have powerful friends. Their lavish dinners in London for Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, have become legendary social events. Guests have included Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair.

Srichand Hinduja's application for a British passport named three referees- former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath; former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Paddy Ashdown and the former Labour cabinet minister Jack Cunningham.

They remain devout and traditional Hindus, striving to preserve their cultural identity in a constantly changing world. And, it is this clash of cultures which has been blamed for a family tragedy.

Srichand's son and heir, Dharam, grew up in the two cultures. Instead of an arranged marriage to a high-caste Hindu Indian bride, he fell in love with an Anglo-Indian Roman Catholic from Australia.

He asked his family to give their blessing to a marriage, but they refused, even when his fiance converted to the Hindu faith. His deeply religious parents were furious... and he eloped with her.

The couple married in secret, but shortly afterwards Dharam died from burns sustained in a back-street hotel in Mauritius. Scotland Yard investigated, but the truth of the incident still remains a mystery.

Ever since, his father has paid daily visits to pray at a Hindu temple in Soho. The brothers all obey the rites of Hindu orthodoxy: they do not smoke or touch alcohol or meat; and their homes and offices have many statues of the Hindu gods.

The Hindujas remain traders at heart. They own power stations, bus and truck plants and cable television, but trade remains the source of their money.

Chief among this is the Sindh Bank, which they finance, named after the province of India from which they originate.

The brothers' father, Parmanand Hinduja, moved from there to Bombay in about 1917 and started a business importing dried fruit to India from Iran and exporting tea in the other direction.

After tea came jute, then films from the Bombay studios, and then oil.