Brands
Banaja Samal appointed head visual merchandiser at Skechers South Asia
Former Puma executive to lead retail presentation and in-store experience
MUMBAI: Skechers South Asia Pvt. Ltd. has appointed Banaja Samal as head visual merchandiser, strengthening its focus on in-store storytelling and retail presentation across the region.
In her new role, Samal will lead the visual merchandising strategy and execution for Skechers’ South Asia operations. She will focus on enhancing the in-store brand experience while ensuring consistent retail presentation across the company’s growing network of stores.
Samal brings more than a decade of experience in retail design and visual merchandising across leading fashion and lifestyle brands. She joins Skechers after an eight-year stint at Puma Group, where she most recently served as visual merchandise manager.
During her time at Puma, she also worked as visual merchandiser and LFR concept manager, and earlier as assistant manager overseeing visual merchandising for regions including Karnataka and Mumbai.
Prior to this, Samal worked with Blackberrys Menswear as a visual merchandiser, managing multiple eastern markets including Kolkata, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. She also served as a concept designer at StudioJ, developing window displays and in-store concepts for various brands.
Samal began her career as a textile designer with Universal Textile Mills and Jaipuria Silk Mills, gaining early experience in surface techniques, prints and design development.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, India.
Brands
CoinDCX co-founders held in Thane over Rs 71 lakh fraud case
Firm calls FIR false, claims impersonation scam as probe unfolds
THANE: The Thane Police have arrested Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, co-founders of CoinDCX, on charges of criminal breach of trust linked to an alleged Rs 71.6 lakh fraud.
The duo were picked up from Bengaluru and produced before a holiday court in Thane, which remanded them to police custody until Monday.
At the centre of the case is a complaint by an insurance advisor from Mumbra, who claims he was drawn in by promises of high returns and regulatory backing tied to cryptocurrency investments and franchise opportunities. The alleged scheme ran between August 2025 and February 2026, with funds collected through both cash and bank transfers. The promised franchise never materialised, nor did the returns, and the accused allegedly became untraceable.
Police have registered an FIR against six individuals under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and launched a broader investigation.
CoinDCX, however, has pushed back sharply. In a statement posted on X, the company described the FIR as “false” and part of a wider impersonation scam, claiming fraudsters had been posing as its founders to dupe unsuspecting investors.
“The entire conspiracy falsely claims that funds were transferred in cash to third-party accounts which have no relation to CoinDCX,” the company said, distancing itself from the alleged transactions.
The firm added that brand impersonation scams are on the rise in India’s digital finance ecosystem. It noted that it had flagged over 1,200 fake websites mimicking its platform between April 2024 and January 2026.
For now, the case sits at a familiar crossroads in India’s crypto story, where ambition, opacity and opportunism often collide, leaving investigators to untangle what is real and what merely looks the part.
