Delhi’s startup circle woke up to a tense development this week after Vaibhav Chawla, the co founder of the warehousing startup Wherehouse, was taken into custody around one in the morning on Tuesday. The arrest followed what Chawla called a frivolous complaint filed by a client, landing at a time when the company had already announced its shutdown due to severe operational challenges.
Chawla had revealed the closure in a detailed LinkedIn post titled Shutting Down Wherehouse, where he explained that a dispute with a client had spiralled far beyond what he expected. The issue began on June 1, when the client emailed him claiming unpaid dues. Chawla rejected the demand on contractual grounds, after which the tone of communication reportedly took an abusive turn. By June 16, the company terminated the agreement, calling the client’s behaviour threatening and unacceptable.
Instead of clearing the pending amount of one lakh twenty eight thousand rupees, the client approached the Economic Offences Wing with a criminal complaint sometime after July 15. Wherehouse submitted its defence on July 23 and called the complaint motivated and aimed at forcing payment through pressure.
By mid November, officers from the Nangaloi Extension Police Station began contacting Chawla but refused to share any supporting documents. Between November 17 and 28, officers allegedly visited the warehouse multiple times, interrupting work and insisting that Chawla appear alone, without legal representation. Matters intensified when a police officer allegedly took ten warehouse workers to the station, releasing them only after their families intervened.
The situation reached its peak early Tuesday morning with Chawla’s arrest, confirmed online by entrepreneur Shachin Bharadwa. The startup community is now watching closely as the case unfolds.
