NEW DELHI: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya who is facing charges of money laundering has come out in defence of his son saying that Siddharth must not be targeted or be dragged into any controversy as he had absolutely no connection with his father’s ‘business’
“My son Sid does not deserve all this hatred and abuse. He has had nothing to do with my business. Shower abuse on me if you must but not him. Slam me if you must but not a young man,” Mallya said in a series of tweets.
Siddharth has faced a massive backlash on Twitter after Mallya left the country, which led to trolls attacking him with questions about his father’s location and whereabouts.
“What joy do ppl get from abusing on social media? Do they feel powerful, do they feel big, do they feel strong??,” Siddharth had tweeted earlier.
Many came out in support of Sid including former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen and ace Bollywood director and choreography Farah Khan.
Mallya also retweeted a tweet by his son, who had said, “People don’t understand that I have nothing to do with it!”
Meanwhile, agreeing to Vijay Mallya's request of more time, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday issued a fresh summons to the liquor baron, asking him to appear before it on April 2 in the money laundering case.
ED had earlier issued summons to Mallya for "personal appearance" on March 18 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
But the flamboyant business asked for a date in April, making it clear that he would not be able to appear before that.
Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought out in India over charges of money laundering, claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects and asserted that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit.