NEW DELHI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- India on Thursday held Home Secretary-level talks with Britain, with New Delhi pressing for early extradition of fugitive indebted tycoon Vijay Mallya.
Sources said that Indian Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi raised the issue of early completion of the extradition formalities of Mallya, who fled to Britain last year, during his talks with his British counterpart Patsy Wilkinson in the national capital.
The business tycoon was recently arrested in London by the Metropolitan Police on behalf of the Indian authorities, over fraud accusations, but he was bailed out within three hours.
Mallya, the 61-year-old former Indian parliamentarian who entered Britain on a valid passport in March 2016, is said to owe banks in India one billion U.S. dollars, but he denies wrongdoing.
He made his fortune selling beer under the Kingfisher brand before branching out into aviation and Formula 1 racing.
However, his Kingfisher Airline was grounded in 2012 and its flying permit lapsed the following year. Kingfisher made annual losses for five years in a row and finally collapsed after lenders refused to give it fresh loans.
In April last year, India revoked Mallya's passport. The following month, it began seeking his extradition from Britain.
