New Delhi, September 5
The 10th INTERPOL Liaison Officers (ILO’s) Conference, organized by CBI, was inaugurated by Govind Mohan, the Union Home Secretary of India at the CBI Headquarters, New Delhi.
This year’s ILO’s Conference has been organized on the theme ‘Strengthening International law Enforcement Partnerships’, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the eve of the upcoming UN International Day of Police Cooperation.
The event involved participation of senior officers from all Central, State and Union Territory law enforcement agencies and International Police Liaison officers from several countries. The inaugural session was joined virtually by law enforcement personnel across India and across member countries of INTERPOL, EUROPOL and GloBE Network.
In his inaugural address, the Union Home Secretary emphasized the importance of international police cooperation in tackling the rapidly evolving landscape of technology-enabled crimes which transcends borders. Stating that the specter of trans national crime and organized crimes, require real time international police cooperation, he asserted “The international dispersal of crime and criminals has enhanced the need for investigation abroad. Prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crime is increasingly reliant on digital evidence and foreign located evidence”. He further added “New age crimes, including cyber enabled financial crimes, online radicalization and transnational organized crime networks, are not confined by borders. In an increasingly interconnected world, the importance of international police cooperation cannot be overstated”.
Govind Mohan stressed the need for close co-ordination and real time co-operation among law enforcement agencies globally to the imminent threats posed by terrorism, trans national organized crime networks, online radicalization, illicit flow of drugs, arms peddling, cyber crime, online child sexual exploitation, human trafficking, wildlife and environmental crimes, economic offences, laundering of proceeds of crime, terror financing etc. need close co-ordination and real time co-operation among law enforcement agencies globally.
He further said that the safe havens for crime, proceeds of crime and terrorism anywhere in the world, pose a serious threat to every country. An increasingly interconnected world needs internationally connected policing. Criminals and fugitives from law should not receive safe havens by exploiting differences in international jurisdictions and brought to justice.
He further dwelled upon the importance of combating crimes including terrorism and quoted from the address of Union Home Minister during the closing Session of 90th who INTERPOL General Assembly had emphatically stated, “I firmly believe that terrorism is the biggest violation of human rights". Further, on the changing nature of crime Union Home Secretary quoted the Union Home Minister then saying, “During this period characterized by a revolution in data and information, the nature of crime and criminals has changed. Today crime has become borderless, and if we want to stop this kind of crime and these criminals, we all have to think beyond conventional geographic borders, so, we have to think and act upon it”.
Stating that India has been one of the early members of INTERPOL, Union Home Secretary said that India has been relatively more active member of INTERPOL, hosting various conferences including twice hosting the INTERPOL General Assembly sessions in 1997 and in 2022. Elaborating recent initiatives for International Police co-operation, he stated that with approval of MHA a working arrangement with EUROPOL was signed by CBI in March, 2024 to strengthen law enforcement co-operation between India and EU, CBI Academy joined INTERPOL Global Academy Network in August, 2023 for enhancing Police capacity building and India joined Internation Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database of INTERPOL providing a critical tool for fight against child sexual abuse and exploitation. He also underlined the significance of Global Operation Centre, set-up by CBI in 2022 and stated that this centre is handling 200-300 requests for assistance including both incoming and outgoing on daily basis.
Addressing the participants, Praveen Sood, Director, CBI stated that “The world today faces a multitude of grave and globalized poly-crimes and threats like terrorism, online radicalization, cyber enabled financial crimes, online child sexual exploitation, corruption, drug trafficking, terror financing and organized crime. Police in India have been at the forefront of addressing these challenges through a combination of robust legal framework, innovative initiatives, leveraging technology and proactive international cooperation.” He added that “Law enforcement professionals need to be well acquainted with various means of coordinating international assistance in criminal matters”.
Stating that India joined INTERPOL in 1949 and has consistently contributed towards operational and organizational success of INTERPOL, Shri Sood said that CBI as National Central Bureau for INTERPOL in India, connects all law enforcement agencies both at Central and State level through INTERPOL Liaison Officers. He informed that Global Operation Centre of CBI has handled 17,368 international assistance requests in 2023 and as many as 100 Red Notices were issued by INTERPOL on criminals and fugitives wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies, the highest ever in a year. He also informed that with INTERPOL and with international law enforcement partners, as many as 29 wanted criminals were brought back to India in 2023 and 19 so far in 2024. Emphasizing the need for international co-operation in the light of technology enabled offences becoming more prevalent, he stated, “Criminal are no longer constrained by borders, and neither should our efforts to combat them”.
The participants were briefed on intricacies related to Extradition, Provisional Arrest and Local Prosecution by MEA officials. Sessions were dedicated on operationally leveraging INTERPOL channels, GloBE Network and investigation of complex transnational crimes.
An Experts Round table event on the theme ‘Strengthening International Law Enforcement Partnerships’ involved participation of speakers from BKA (Germany), FBI (USA), CBI, National Police Agency (Japan), National Crime Agency (UK), PDI (Chile) and Nepal Police. It was highlighted by the speakers that globalization of crime poses a significant challenge. Effectively countering these threats requires close collaboration and partnership with law enforcement agencies across countries and that the need for robust and real-time international police cooperation has never been greater.
CBI has been organizing ILO’s Conference since 2003 with a view to significantly enhance the utilization of formal and informal means of international police cooperation to combat crime, criminals and proceeds of crime.
