CBI raids Mallya's offices, residences

The CBI on Saturday raided houses and offices of business tycoon Vijay Mallya and his now-grounded Kingfisher Airlines in case of alleged fraud in Rs.900 crore loan by the IDBI bank which has been declared a non-performing asset, an official said.

"The raids are still on at five places of Mallya's offices and residences in Mumbai, Bengaluru and in Goa in a case of allegedly violating banking norms in sanction and disbursement of Rs.900 crore to Kingfisher Airlines," a CBI spokesperson in New Delhi told IANS.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has also searched premises of Kingfisher chief financial officer A. Raghunathan and unnamed officials of IDBI Bank Ltd on same charges.

The IDBI bank came under the scanner in 2014 for granting an alleged bad loan to Kingfisher Airlines despite knowing its precarious financial position and negative credit ratings.

Mallya's airline has been grounded since October 2012.

A string of Indian banks have an exposure of nearly Rs.7,000 crore in loans to the airline, with the State Bank of India leading with Rs.1,600 crore.

The Punjab National Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda have loan exposures in the range of Rs.800 crore, Rs.650 crore and Rs.550 crore respectively.