Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya Tuesday made public a two-year-old letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he was "pained" to have been projected as the "poster boy of all bank defaults" and that there was nothing he could do "if politically motivated extraneous factors interfere" with his efforts to settle the dues. Breaking his "two years of silence" over the controversy surrounding him in the over Rs 9,000-crore Kingfisher Airlines loan default case, Mallya denied that he was a wilful defaulter. The 63-year-old embattled liquor tycoon said he was tired of "relentless pursuit" of him by "the government and its criminal agencies", adding that he had even written letters to both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister on April 15, 2016 to explain his side of the story. "No response was received from either of them," he said in a statement issued, seeking to state "factual position" in response to the controversy surrounding him. He said he has been accused by politicians and the media alike of having stolen and run away with Rs 9,000 crore that was loaned to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA). "Some of the lending banks have also labelled me a wilful defaulter," he added. READ | Vijay Mallya offers to sell assets to repay bank loans, says he has become ‘poster boy’ of default Further, he claimed that he made two settlement offers to the banks when proceedings were filed by them in the Supreme Court on March 29, 2016 and April 6, 2016 but both the offers were rejected by the banks. "I respectfully submit that my conduct does not amount to 'wilful default'," Mallya said. Mallya is currently facing an extradition trial in a UK court over fraud and money laundering charges by Indian authorities. Mallya’s statement came days after the Enforcement Directorate filed an application before a special court in Mumbai seeking to declare Vijay Mallya, a ‘fugitive economic offender’, under the recently promulgated Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, 2018.
