Interpol chief lauds India's role in using Red Corner Notice

Paris: India's usage of the Red Corner Notice (RCN) regime to identify and track down suspects and fugitives has been praised by the chief of Interpol, who wants the country's cooperation to host capacity building sessions for police around the world.

"I would say that India is one of our strongest countries in terms of appreciating the importance of using Red Corner Notices and tracking down people.

"The issue that comes up time and time again is whether there is an extradition relationship between the country that is seeking the Red Corner Notice and the country that is going to give...," Secretary General Ronald K Noble told a news agency here.

The "extradition relationship" between two countries is an important "issue" when it comes to tracking down and extraditing people who are flashed worldwide through the RCN, the Interpol chief said, adding that the way the RCNs are "publicised", it becomes tough for the individual to travel freely.

An Interpol RCN is not an international arrest warrant per se, but it allows the warrant to be circulated worldwide with the request that the wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition.

"The way the person wanted by the Red Corner Notice is publicised, it comes difficult for the person to travel freely," he said.

Noble said the Lyon (France) headquartered agency needs more help from India for capacity building and strengthening police forces around the world.

"In Interpol's perspective, apart from cooperation in various issues like investigations, Red Corner Notices, another important area where India helps, and we need more help from India is in hosting conferences and capacity building sessions for police around the world.

"India has hosted many such events and we need expert training in organised crime, cybercrime and financial hi-tech crime and India is a leading player (in capacity building training)," he said.

India's influence has increased and India's importance. India is playing a leadership role in capacity building training and law enforcement, he said. Noble also praised India's efforts to innovate against various types of crimes.

"India is a very important member country in the Interpol...India regularly sends its best officers to come and work at the Interpol headquarters. Whenever the experts are meeting for various topics, whether its IP (intellectual property) crime or terrorism, India participates at the highest level.

"Historically, the head of CBI has been elected regularly to represent the Asian region in the executive committee. In terms of India, there is so much innovation underway there in the private sector and the same is true in the public sector. It's a great, great relationship with India," he said.