New Delhi/Mumbai: Tycoon Vijay Mallya, under pressure from banks to repay more than $1 billion owed by his collapsed airline, on Friday refuted claims he had fled India as politicians traded recriminations over how he was able to fly to Britain unhindered.
The March 2 departure of Mallya has sparked uproar in parliament and a firestorm in domestic media that pore over the lifestyle one of India's brashest entrepreneurs. Questions centre on how Mallya was allowed to leave even after creditors of his failed Kingfisher Airlines had appealed to the Supreme Court to ensure he stayed in the country.
"I did not flee from India and neither am I an absconder," 60-year-old Mallya said in a series of posts on Twitter. Mallya said in his posts that he would comply with domestic laws.
India's financial crime-fighting agency, the Enforcement Directorate, has summoned Mallya for questioning on March 18, a senior agency official said later on Friday. A spokesman for Mallya's holding company, UB Group, declined to comment on the summons.
The self-styled "King of Good Times", who built his business around Kingfisher beer and co-owns a Formula 1 racing team, explained to his 5 million Twitter followers that he travels to and from India frequently, saying he was the target of "a raging fire" media witch hunt.
11/03/16 Douglas Busvine and Devidutta Tripathy/Reuters
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The March 2 departure of Mallya has sparked uproar in parliament and a firestorm in domestic media that pore over the lifestyle one of India's brashest entrepreneurs. Questions centre on how Mallya was allowed to leave even after creditors of his failed Kingfisher Airlines had appealed to the Supreme Court to ensure he stayed in the country.
"I did not flee from India and neither am I an absconder," 60-year-old Mallya said in a series of posts on Twitter. Mallya said in his posts that he would comply with domestic laws.
India's financial crime-fighting agency, the Enforcement Directorate, has summoned Mallya for questioning on March 18, a senior agency official said later on Friday. A spokesman for Mallya's holding company, UB Group, declined to comment on the summons.
The self-styled "King of Good Times", who built his business around Kingfisher beer and co-owns a Formula 1 racing team, explained to his 5 million Twitter followers that he travels to and from India frequently, saying he was the target of "a raging fire" media witch hunt.
11/03/16 Douglas Busvine and Devidutta Tripathy/Reuters
