States Must Create Special Cells For Absconders To Ease Extradition: Amit Shah
The CBI has been organising a two-day-long conference in New Delhi to discuss several issues, including international police cooperation to track fugitives.
Published : October 16, 2025 at 2:00 PM IST
By Gautam Debroy
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday appealed to all the State governments to set up a special cell in the state capital for absconding fugitives, stating that the absence of such cells always creates challenges in the extradition process of the criminals.
“All states should have a special cell for absconders in the state capital, which fulfils the international criteria. On many occasions, the absence of such a cell for international fugitives becomes an issue in foreign courts. Although I don’t believe this, the state government should set up such a cell so that nobody can make any excuse,” said Shah while inaugurating the two-day-long ‘Extradition of Fugitives-Challenges and Strategies’ conference in New Delhi.
The conference is being organised by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Stating that a scientific database of the absconders should be shared with all state police, Shah asked IB and CBI to work in this direction.
“The CBI and IB should take the lead in guiding the states to create such databases. The database should have all details, including the cases against the absconders, where they have absconded, their network in India and where the process of extradition has stuck,” Shah highlighted.
He said that a focused group to look into narco, gangster, extortion and financial crime, as well as cyber crime, should be set up where IB and CBI will guide in the process with the help of a multi-agency centre (MAC).
“All states should also set up an expert special cell for the extradition process. And these cells should be guided by the CBI,” Shah said.
The home minister further said that once a red corner notice is issued against any individual, their passport should be seized so that the suspect can’t escape abroad.
“Once a red corner notice is issued, their passport should be seized. The fugitive should be afraid of the laws in India,” Shah said.
Highlighting that Article 355 and 356 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which deals with the issue of “trial in absentia”, should be used by the States to initiate trial against the fugitive, Shah said, “With the help of CBI, all states should set up units to extradite the extradition process for the State-specific fugitives.”
Stating that the central government has tightened the money laundering law, Shah said, “In the last 4 years, we have recovered 2 billion dollars. As we have tightened the money laundering law, we were able to attach properties worth 12 billion dollars of several fugitives between 2014-23.”
The Home Minister said, “Our country is progressing with a positive approach by ensuring the security of the country. We have zero tolerance against corruption, crime and terrorism. But we have to ensure zero tolerance against those who are running such businesses from outside the country.”
Senior police officers from various Central and State Police agencies are participating in the two-day-long conference. Deliberations will be made on issues of International Police Cooperation to track fugitives and coordinate efforts to bring them back to face criminal justice in India.
The conference also had participation of other stakeholders, including the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Addressing the gathering, CBI chief Praveen Sood said that in 2024, at least 52 red notices and 44 blue notices have been issued against the fugitives.
“In the first nine months of this year, 189 notices, including 89 red and 110 blue notices, have been issued,” Sood said.
He said that Interpol has issued 957 red notices against Indian fugitives, out of which 231 cases are connected with CBI, 130 NIA, 21 ED, 12 NCB, and the rest with state police forces.
“Of the total Interpol notices, 189 red notices are related to economic offence, followed by 254 extremism-related, 21 notices relate to extortion, 55 drug-related and the rest are connected to other crimes like rape, extortion, etc,” Sood said.
Stating that a total of 35 fugitives have been extradited to India till date this year, Sood said, “a total of 338 extradition requests are pending with other countries.”
He informed that 30 criminals have been extradited in 2024 and 29 had been extradited in 2023.
There has been a concern of delays in these matters, and fugitives often take recourse to different avenues to impede the efforts of their extradition from these countries. There are instances where many criminals associated with organised criminal gangs have fled from India and continue to engage in criminal activities, residing abroad.
The law enforcement agencies and experts will deliberate on these challenges to find a roadmap for expeditious extradition of these fugitive criminals.
An array of issues will be discussed during these two days, including effective use of formal and informal channels available for seeking cooperation from foreign countries, use of technology in locating fugitive criminals, a strategic approach for the extradition of fugitives and analysis of the financial footprint of wanted fugitives.
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