CBI’s ‘Operation Trishul’ nets 33 fugitives in one year: Official

“CBI has successfully extradited 33 criminals since January 2022 that includes six criminals in 2023,” a senior official with the agency told news agency ANI.

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.

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.

The UK court doesn’t seem to be interested in staying his extradition requests and has also accepted that the Government of India will treat its assurances on Nirav’s medical care after being extradited.