Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya today told his agitating employees, who began a hunger strike, that he did not have money to clear their salary dues.

"I don't have the money to pay your salary dues, because I cannot use the proceeds from the United Spirits-Diageo deal for this due to an injunction from the Karnataka High Court," Mallya reportedly told the striking employees.

The employees of the grounded airline have been on a hunger-strike since yesterday at the Kingfisher House here seeking salaries which have not been paid since last August. Mallya told the employees that the airline's chief executive Sanjay Agarwal would hold meetings with them.

The employees, however, said that the meetings with Mallya earlier did not yield any results and that they would continue with their hunger strike. Last November, Mallya clinched a deal with British liquor major Diageo to sell majority 53.4 per cent stake in United Spirits for Rs 11,166 crore.