Vijay Mallya, Nitin Sandesara, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Jatin Mehta are among those 111 persons against whom National Central Bureau of India (NCB-India) issued the Interpol notices in 2018.
These Interpol notices included 76 Red Corner Notices (RCNs), 28 Blue notices, four Yellow notices and three Purple notices, according to Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) data.
The NCB-India issued these notices on behalf of Indian law enforcement agencies for ensuring that these are published on behalf of other member countries, entered and maintained. The notices were issued between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018.
James, who was arrested by United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities, was extradited to India from Dubai on December 12, 2018 as an RCN was issued against him.
Romanian national Alexandru, who was wanted in Kerala in connection with the slick ATM thefts that cost hundreds of domestic cardholders their money, was arrested by US authorities and was extradited on March 3, 2018. An RCN was issued against Alexandru and his accomplices Cristian Constantin Viktor, Ioanmercia Floreci Bogdan Florian, and Popescu Oneamirce Florin.
The other seven accused who have been extradited are: Md Farooq alias Takla (UAE), Md Mujeeb Khan (UAE), Md Abdul Mohsin Khan (UAE), Asra Mubin (UAE), Mujawar (UAE), Palvinder Singh (Thailand) and Md Yahya (Bahrain).
Absconding industrialist Vinay Mittal, wanted in seven bank fraud cases worth Rs 40 crore, was extradited to India from Indonesia on September 20, 2018. His name had figured on the list of prominent fugitive economic offenders which contained names of Vijay Mallya, Nitin Sandesara, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Jatin Mehta among others against whom an RCN was issued by India.
The CBI had registered cases against Mittal in 2014 and 2016 on the request of Corporation Bank and Punjab National Bank, which is reeling under Rs 13,000-crore bank fraud allegedly perpetrated by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, they said.
The Red notice is issued to seek the location and arrest of accused persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence while the Yellow notice is an alert to help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.
The Blue notice is issued to collect additional information about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a crime, and the Purple notice is issued to seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.
The NCB-India, however, did not issue any Black, Green and Orange notices in 2018.
The Black notice seeks information on unidentified bodies, the purpose of the Green notice is to provide warning about a person's criminal activities, where the person is considered a possible threat to public safety, while the Orange notice is to warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.
(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@.in)
( With inputs from IANS )