Businessman Vijay Mallya has accused Indian authorities of conducting a “witch hunt” against him even as he invited them to come to London for interviewing him, claiming he has “nothing to hide.”
In an interview with Autosport published this week, Force India Formula 1 team principal Mr. Mallya said his presence in India was impossible because his diplomatic passport has been revoked. “There is no other way I can describe what is happening other than a witch hunt. I just have to ride out the storm,” he told the sports magazine.
“They [the Indian authorities] have had access to many executives of Kingfisher Airlines, and they have had access to documents. If the missing link is only to interview me, come to London and interview me, get on the radio conference and interview me, send me an email with questions and I will reply. I have nothing to hide,” he said. “But it seems a bit contradictory and disconcerting, that just because I’m not present in India, that they should issue an arrest warrant and cancel my passport. What confidence does that give me about their real intentions,” he asked.
The UB Group chairman, who is being chased in connection with an alleged debt of around $ 1.4-billion linked to the collapsed Kingfisher Airlines, has been based in the U.K. since March.
