New Delhi: A former assistant manager in the Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation — who allegedly defrauded his organisation of more than Rs 37 lakh and fled to Europe 26 years ago — was extradited to India from Switzerland Monday.
The extradition of Anil Kumar Khanna, wanted by the Uttar Pradesh police in a case registered against him under sections of cheating and criminal conspiracy in Surajpur, Gautam Budh Nagar, was facilitated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In June 2017, the Interpol General Secretariat issued a red notice against Khanna at the request of UP Police.
Speaking to ThePrint, a CBI officer said that the Global Operations Centre of CBI coordinated with Interpol NCB–Bern and UP Police to ensure Khanna’s return.
“He is alleged to have defrauded Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation (UPFC) of over Rs 37 lakh in 1998 while working as an assistant manager in UPFC. A team from UP Police has arrested him since his return,” the CBI officer said.
“The CBI, as the National Central Bureau for Interpol in India, coordinates with all law enforcement agencies in India for assistance via Interpol channels,” the officer added.
Over the past two years, the CBI has brought back over 50 fugitives in coordination with Interpol.
How the pace of extraditions has increased
According to the CBI data accessed by ThePrint, the tally of 22 fugitives extradited last year until October 2023 marked a staggering 340 percent surge from 2017 when only five extraditions were recorded.
Starting in 2017, the CBI began to approach the process with more vigour, according to sources in the agency. The sources said the process received a fresh push in May 2023 when Praveen Sood joined as CBI director.
The data also showed that significant numbers of the fugitives extradited last year were from Gulf countries. Many of these extraditions were at the request of Kerala Police. The operations to bring back over 180 more fugitives with their current locations now confirmed are ongoing.
The data showed that while the CBI did not extradite any fugitives in 2005, the agency brought home three fugitives in 2006, one in 2007, six in 2008, five in 2009, and three in 2010 and 2011, respectively. This tally rose to 10 in 2012, dipped to seven in 2013 and then increased again to nine in 2014.
The sources said Interpol’s role in accelerating the flow of information, aiding in the geolocation of wanted criminals, and facilitating their return has played a significant role in the extradition exercise.
The CBI Global Operations Centre’s establishment has also boosted the exercise, as has the agency’s focus on information exchange with law enforcement agencies of other countries.
“This centre (Global Operations Centre) helped immensely in facilitating rapid exchange of information with global agencies and local police. It also ensured the faster sharing of information and the dissemination of data,” said a source.
The source also attributed the success of the exercise to the CBI’s concerted and focused efforts on the geolocation of criminals, bilateral engagement with international agencies, increased international police cooperation and prompt reciprocation to requests from other countries for the deportation of people accused of crimes in their home countries.
The state police initiate the request to bring back fugitives. However, as the nodal agency of Interpol in India, the CBI coordinates all international police assistance via Interpol channels with 194 countries.
For this purpose, the CBI’s international police cooperation unit now has Interpol liaison officers in all central, state and UT law enforcement agencies. The idea is to mount a coordinated crackdown on transnational crimes and to track down criminals across international jurisdictions.
The CBI, on behalf of Indian law enforcement agencies, requests all Interpol colour-coded notices (red, blue, etc.), which aid the provisional arrests of fugitives in whichever country they might have sought refuge.
At the request of a member country or an international tribunal, Interpol, based on a valid arrest warrant, issues the notices, say, a Red Notice for locating and provisionally arresting a person awaiting extradition.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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