Vijay Mallya's UK arrest: A liquor baron turns into poster boy of defaults

The industrialist is accused of having unpaid loans of over Rs 9,000 crore

The poster boy of India’s bank default problem may finally be getting his comeuppance. On Tuesday, the police in the United Kingdom arrested industrialist and former liquor baron Vijay Mallya on behalf of Indian authorities. The 61-year-old, who owes 17 banks in India an estimated Rs 9,000 crore and stands accused of fraud and money laundering, was given bail soon after. But the process offers some hope that India’s extradition request, which was submitted to the UK earlier this year, will actually make some headway.

Mallya, a former Rajya Sabha MP, left the country on March 2, 2016, the day