Vijay Mallya met with 'chor hai' chants at India vs Australia match

Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya was met with "chor hai" chants outside The Oval stadium in London on June 9, where he had gone to watch the India-Australia Cricket World Cup match.

The 63-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss is wanted in India on fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores.

Known to be an avid cricket fan, Mallya watched the match with his mother. As the fugitive businessman left the stadium after the match concluded, the crowd surrounded him and chanted "Vijay Mallya chor hai".

When a response was sought by the media over the "chor" chants, Mallya said "I am just making sure my mother does not get hurt."

#WATCH London, England: Vijay Mallya says, "I am making sure my mother doesn't get hurt", as crowd shouts "Chor hai" while he leaves from the Oval after the match between India and Australia. pic.twitter.com/ft1nTm5m0i

— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2019

Before the match, Mallya had said, "I am here to watch the game".

Mallya, who remains on bail as he contests an extradition order issued by a UK court last year, has continued to make a series of interventions on social media to offer "100 percent payback" to state-owned Indian banks to cover his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines' debt.

Great to watch cricket with my son and even sweeter to see India’s emphatic victory over Australia. Congratulations to ⁦@imVkohli⁩ and his team pic.twitter.com/R01aB1WbSA

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— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) June 9, 2019

After the Westminster Magistrates' Court extradition order was signed off by UK home secretary Sajid Javid in February, Mallya had lodged an appeal in the UK High Court which has already been rejected on paper by a judge and is scheduled for an oral hearing on July 2.

(With inputs from PTI)