Under its ‘Operation Trishul,’ the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has extradited 33 fugitives involved in various criminal activities in the past one year. The information was provided by a senior official of the investigative agency to news agency ANI.

“CBI has successfully extradited 33 criminals since January 2022 that includes six criminals in 2023," ANI quoted the official as saying.

As the nodal agency of India coordinated with the bureaus of other nations, the extradition process of criminals became more streamlined. The officials added that currently, extradition requests of certain criminals are underway and the CBI is working to bring these criminals to India soon.

“Several cases are under process, and the absconding accused will be extradited soon," the official added.

The CBI official also cited the recent extradition of Red Notice subject Mohammed Haneefa Makkatt, who was extradited on Sunday and was wanted by Kerala police in a 2006 case of kidnapping and murder. The officials also shared the details and said that the accused was arrested with the help of Interpol Saudi Arabia, who zeroed down upon his location and requested a team to be sent for the arrests. The Kerala police completed the remaining formalities and brought the accused back.

On 7 March, CBI also arrested Harchand Singh Gill, director of Pearls Group who was absconding after a multi-thousand crore scam in the company and was deported to Fiji. Interpol had also released the Red Notice against Gill.

According to Interpol, "A 'Red Notice’ is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.” However, they clarified that it is not an international arrest warrant. These notices are restricted to use by law enforcement agencies.

The extradition process of big fugitives like Nirav Modi is also processing at a good pace and the agency expects that the diamond merchant, who is involved in the $2 billion Punjab National bank (PNB) loan scam will be back in India soon. Currently, he is lodged at Wandsworth Prison in southwest London.

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