27 Fugitives Brought Back To India From Abroad In 3 Years: Home Ministry

As many as 27 fugitives - wanted in various cases involving terrorism, financial crimes and other grave offences have been brought into India from other countries through deportation or extradition in the last 39 months, the government said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The Home Ministry also shared details of Red Corner Notices - the international equivalent of arrest warrants - issued against various offenders. As many as 308 requests have been sent to Interpol by CBI and as many as 247 notices have been issued by the international agency. As many as 95 wanted criminals have been arrested or located abroad in the last three years.

"This year in 2019, uptil 15.07.2019, 41 Red Notice requests have been sent to Interpol and 32 requests have been published and 16 fugitives have been arrested and located abroad," the Home Ministry stated.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had requested most of the Red Corner Notices in 2018, a period which saw big bank frauds including the $2 billion Punjab National Bank or PNB scam. An extradition request against the main accused in the PNB Scam -- Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi - is pending before the Antigua and UK governments.

"Red Notice is issued by Interpol and is meant to facilitate quick location and arrest of a person abroad and providing the information to the national agency / authority on whose request the Notice was issued. The Red Notice is not a pre-requisite for and may not necessarily lead to the extradition of a fugitive offender for which there is a separate legal process to be followed," Minister of State Home GK Reddy informed the Rajya Sabha.