BENGALURU -- Until just over a week ago, Gautam Adani projected the image of a near-invincible business tycoon whose corporate empire and wealth looked set to expand relentlessly. After all, his huge conglomerate had emerged as a key player in India's push to develop slick highways, gleaming airports and other world-class infrastructure.
But that all changed on Jan. 25 when U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research launched a blistering attack against the Adani Group, accusing it of stock manipulation, accounting fraud and a host of other wrongdoing.
