India Gives List of 14 Fugitives to UK Govt

A list of the most wanted fugitives that India wants extradited was handed over to the United Kingdom by Kiren Rijiju, the Minister of State for Home Affairs. The list includes 14 names, including Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi, and Tiger Hanif.

In turn, the British government also requested the extradition of 12 Non-Resident Indians and other nationals who have allegedly committed crimes in the United Kingdom and have been residing in India, the Economic Times reported.

The two nations signed agreements on tackling international criminality and returning illegal migrants, according to a statement from the UK government. Two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed by Rijiju and Caroline Nokes, the UK’s Minister of Immigration, on Jan. 11.

The list also includes names of Mohammad Sheikh, and a brother and sister duo — Rajesh and Seema Kapoor. The siblings have been accused of kidnapping their brother Deepak’s child and fleeing to London in December 2007. They are facing a red corner notice from Interpol. Others on the list are Paul Samuel and Kartik Venugopalan, the report said.

“The MoU on criminal records exchange will lead to British and Indian law enforcement bodies sharing criminal records information, fingerprints and intelligence,” said the statement. It added that this will assist the police in protecting the public from known criminals, including sex offenders. It will also allow the courts in both countries to access more information to support tougher sentencing decisions.

The list of the United Kingdom includes names like Raminder Singh, Aman Vyas and Mohammad Abdul Sakur. Almost all these people are being wanted by Britain for committing crimes like murder and sexual assault, ET reported citing a home ministry official.

In 2015, Delhi Police arrested Singh for allegedly raping a woman in Scotland in 2012. He was hiding in India. Vyas is accused for the 2009 murder-cum-rape of a woman in East London. Sakur, a citizen of Bangladesh, is wanted for allegedly killing his wife and children in the United Kingdom.

“I was very pleased to welcome the Indian home affairs minister to the United Kingdom. The agreements we’ve signed cover the important issues of returns and criminal records exchanges to the mutual benefit of both countries. The Minister’s visit forms part of our ongoing dialogue and demonstrates the strong and positive relationship between our two nations,” said Nokes.

The agreement commits both countries to taking a more flexible approach to verifying the identity and nationality of individuals, which will help speed up the return process.

Rijiju was visiting London at the invitation of Nokes’ predecessor, Brandon Lewis, following their successful meeting in India in November 2017.

He had raised the matter of extradition of 13 Indians, including fugitive business tycoon Vijay Mallya, from the United Kingdom with Lewis on Nov. 7, 2017. The British politician was in India, and inaugurated the country’s 18th visa application center in India at Bengaluru.

Rijiju has urged the UK government to speed up the extradition process of some cases like that of Hanif, which has been pending for many years.

Out of the 121 fugitives India wants extradited, 70 per cent have taken shelter in four countries. Data from the Ministry of External Affairs obtained through a Right to Information query in November 2017 revealed that the preferred destinations for fugitive Indians have been identified as the United States, United Arab Emirates, Canada and the United Kingdom.