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New Delhi A delegation led by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Praveen Sood is likely to raise the issue of pro-Khalistani elements running an anti-India agenda from foreign soil during bilateral meetings with federal law enforcement officers from Canada, the UK, the US and Australia on the sidelines of ongoing 91st general assembly of Interpol in Vienna, people familiar with the matter said.
Indian officials will also take up the issue of delays in issuing Interpol red notices and pending requests under mutual legal assistance treaties (MLAT), letter rogatories (LRs), and extraditions, conveying to the international police organisations that investigations into organised crimes, financial frauds, and terrorism were getting hampered due to delays. This year’s general assembly is being held from November 28 to December 1, marking 100 years of Interpol’s formation.
“The Interpol’s 91st assembly is being attended by the CBI. The issue of Khalistanis, red notices, delay in sharing information in investigations will be taken up during bilateral meetings with certain countries,” said an officer, who didn’t want to be named.
India has repeatedly asked several countries that PKEs operating from countries like US, Australia, the UK, Canada etc have been indulging in anti-India activities including radicalising young Sikh youth to join the so-called Khalistan movement, smuggling drugs and weapons from across the border with the help of Pakistani spy agency, ISI; attacking Indian Missions and consulates abroad and threatening Indian leaders.
During the 90th Interpol GA, hosted by CBI in New Delhi between October 18 and 21, 2022, Indian agencies held bilateral meetings with representatives from at least 22 countries and Europol to discuss matters related to police cooperation, enhancement in sharing intelligence and geo-location, terrorism, terror financing, online radicalisation, and coordinating efforts to prevent cybercrimes and online child sexual exploitation.
Expediting the extradition of former liquor baron Vijay Mallya, in particular, was taken up with the UK last year. Mallya’s extradition was cleared by the UK high court in April 2020 but the British government has not signed off on it citing “secret proceedings”.
At the Vienna GA, Interpol has unveiled a “biometric hub”, which is essentially a tool to screen individuals while crossing international borders. A statement issued by Interpol on Wednesday said that the biometric hub can also be used for regular police operations within a country. “Over the next two years, the tool will be progressively rolled out to border points and front line officers across Interpol’s membership. The system is expected to perform up to 1 million forensic searches per day, including fingerprints, palm prints and portrait,” it added.
A key area to be discussed at this year’s summit will be the growth of transnational organised crime, with Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock saying in a statement that this is a matter of global concern.
“Criminal groups around the world are using the dark web and other tools to create a whole new business model – gone are the days of codes of silence amongst tight-knit groups; these criminal groups do not even know who they are working with and are making anonymous connections online. They are outsourcing, creating partnerships, bringing together different criminal activities. They are expanding markets globally while operating under the radar and often undetected, simultaneously undermining the rule of law and democracy in those countries,” Stock said in the statement.
A Vienna Declaration is also in the works. The declaration, according to the Interpol statement, “will make clear to the world’s leaders – on behalf of their police officers – that without treating this explosion, this second pandemic, this crisis of transnational organized crime as a shared, global national security crisis, none of our communities will be safe.”
India may raise Khalistan issue at Interpol meet – Hindustan Times
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