INTERPOL denies India’s request to issue Red Corner Notice against 12 fugitives

A senior government official from India’s security establishment said that INTERPOL has denied issuing Red Corner notice to at least 12 individuals wanted in several anti-national and criminal activities in the country, reports ETV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has denied issuing a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against India’s 12 most wanted fugitives. Disclosing this to ETV Bharat, a senior government official from India’s security establishment said that INTERPOL has denied issuing Red Corner notice to at least 12 individuals wanted in several anti-national and criminal activities in the country.

The INTERPOL has recently rejected India’s request for the second time to issue a Red Corner notice against Canada-based founder and legal advisor of pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Earlier, the international police organization had also denied issuing RCN against Dr Zakir Naik for his alleged involvement in money laundering cases. The INTERPOL, however, issued such a notice against at least 33 fugitives sought by the Indian authorities this year.

A Red Corner Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the 90th General Assembly of INTERPOL to be held from October 18 to 21 in the Pragati Maidan in the national capital.

On a query that compelled INTERPOL to deny issuing Red Corner notice against fugitives sought by India, the official said that the criminals take benefit from the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF). “The fugitives appeal to the CCF saying that they have been victimized by the government authorities on grounds of religion and race,” the official said.

The pro-Khalistan chief is the latest where CCF intervened following an appeal from Pannu. “CCF is being informed that they (Sikhs for Justice) are being harassed and targeted by Indian authorities,” the official said. “It is not for INTERPOL to judge the merit of a case or a decision taken by national courts – that is a sovereign matter. Our role is to assess if a request for a Red Notice is in line with our Constitution and Rules. This means that we cannot accept a request if, for example, it is political, military, religious or racial in character, or is not in accordance with our Rules on the Processing of Data,” INTERPOL Secretary General Jurgen Stock said.

Admitting that financial fraudsters have been utilizing the digitization process, the international police organization recognized financial crime as a major challenge for law enforcing agencies in all countries. “Terrorism is a one-party of our global program. We have been developing relations with member countries. We keep sharing and intercepting the movement of terror organizations,” said INTERPOL secretary general Jurgen Stock in New Delhi.

“Cryptocurrency is a new challenge for law enforcing agencies. Criminals are using cryptocurrency to skip law enforcement agencies…With the use of digitization and the internet, it's more and more difficult to track and trap the people involved in it,” said Stock. He said that law enforcement agencies have to stay a step ahead against lawbreakers. “We have to strengthen international relations and share information on a real-time basis,” said Stock.

Furthermore, Stock raised concerns over organized crime networks making billions of dollars worldwide, with less than one percent of global illicit financial flows being intercepted and recovered. “Organized crime networks are making billions of dollars. And the fact that less than one percent of global illicit financial flows are intercepted and recovered – or rather, nearly 99 percent of stolen assets remain in criminal hands - should be of greater concern to everyone,” he said.

Stock further informed that the combined estimates of the global cost of cybercrime, which is expected to reach 10.5 trillion US dollars by 2025, brings us to the basics of policing – follow the money. He said that INTERPOL has developed its global stop-payment mechanism, the Anti-Money Laundering Rapid Response Protocol, which in the past 10 months alone has helped member countries recover more than 60 million dollars in criminal proceeds from cyber-enabled fraud.

Stock was talking to the reporters ahead of the 90th General Assembly of INTERPOL. He said that organized crime groups cause a massive economic and social impact on governments, businesses, and individuals worldwide. "To have a better view of the threats faced by law enforcement agencies, a Global Crime Trend Report will be released during the four-day-long session," he said.

Referring to online child sexual exploitation and abuse, Stock said that Interpol’s Global Crime Trend Report also highlighted the massive increase in online child sexual exploitation and abuse, figures which are only set to increase. “We know that cybercrime and online child abuse are significantly underreported, often because victims are ashamed or in cases of fraud, embarrassed, which means that the figures we see are just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Talking about INTERPOL’s initiative to fight online child sexual abuse, Stock said, “Today, with the click of a button, police anywhere in the world can instantly check against Interpol’s 19 global databases containing 126 million records including DNA profiles and facial recognition images.”

He informed that INTERPOL’s databases are checked more than 20 million times each day – which equates to around 250 searches per second. “Our International Child Sexual Exploitation database helps investigators around the world identify an average of seven child abuse victims – every single day,” he said.

He further said that India was connected to this specialized database earlier this year, and has already seen significant results from being part of this global network. To date, ICSE has helped member countries identify more than 30,000 victims worldwide, imagine what could be achieved if more countries follow India’s example, he said. “Indeed India plays an extremely active role in a range of global operations coordinated by INTERPOL,” Stock added.

He further highlighted India’s operation against drugs as law enforcing authorities made the largest single seizure of heroin during the operation intercepting 75kg of the drug under Operation Lionfish targeting drug trafficking.