India Asks UK To Extradite Vijay Mallya, Agusta Accused Christian Michel

New Delhi: India on Monday asked Britain to extradite nearly 60 people wanted by it, including liquor baron Vijay Mallya and Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, for bringing them back to face justice in India.

India and Britain also agreed to hold annual strategic dialogue at the level of Union Home Secretary to jointly deal with issues like terrorism, organised crimes, visa and immigration matters.

The Indian list of around 60 wanted people was handed over to Britain during the bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Theresa May.

Britain also handed over to India a list of 17 people whose custody it seeks under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty or against whom Letters Rogatories had been issued, official sources said.

While industrialist Vijay Mallya has been accused of money laundering, Christian Michel is the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland helicopter deal.

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The two countries agreed not to allow fugitives and criminals escape the law and resolved to facilitate outstanding extradition requests.

In talks between PM Modi and Ms May, the issue of extradition requests figured and officials dealing with the issue from both sides were directed to meet at the earliest.

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Sources said India expects forward movement in Mr Mallya's extradition from the UK following the talks. They said the specific issue of Mr Mallya's extradition had also figured in the talks between the two sides in the run up to the meeting between PM Modi and Ms May.