Liquor baron and business tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, was arrested in London by Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition on charges of fraud.
The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station. He was, however, released on bail a few hours later.
Mallya Gets Bail Within Hours of Arrest
Mallya appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and was seen walking out with his legal team a few hours later, after being granted bail.
Soon after getting bail, Mallya tweeted:
Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on 2 March 2016. He has repeatedly dismissed the charges against him.
MEA Issues Statement of Mallya’s Arrest
The External Affairs Ministry issued a statement on Mallya’s arrest, saying:
His arrest in London today was in connection with request by the GoI to UK authorities for his extradition. Legal process in this regard is underway in the UK. The two governments are in touch in this context.
In January, court had ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans.
Senior Indian officials described his arrest as the first salvo in the case, which will now involve a legal process in the UK to determine if Mallya can be extradited to India to face charges in Indian courts.
The arrest comes weeks after Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had indicated that Mallya's extradition would feature in his talks during his visit to the UK.
India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per its Extradition Treaty with the UK through a note verbale on 8 February.
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