New Delhi: The processing time for issuing Interpol Red Notices to apprehend corrupt individuals has been significantly reduced from an average of 14 months to approximately three months, said CBI Director Praveen Sood on Thursday.
Speaking at the event titled “Cross-border Corruption: Challenges and Strategies” organized by the CBI and inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Praveen Sood highlighted that currently only eight extradition proposals are pending before the legal authorities for issuing Interpol notices, with the oldest request being just one month old.
Comparing statistics, Sood mentioned that while 96 Interpol notices were issued in 2024, 189 notices have already been released in the first nine months of 2025, which include 79 Red Corner Notices and 110 Blue Corner Notices.
To date, India has issued a total of 957 Interpol notices against corrupt individuals. Of these, 231 notices pertain to CBI cases, 130 to the National Investigation Agency, 21 to the Directorate of Enforcement, 12 to the Narcotics Control Bureau, and the rest are related to various state police departments, he added.
Breaking down the 189 Red Corner Notices issued, 79 are linked to financial crimes, 254 pertain to terrorism cases, 21 relate to illegal money transfers, 55 concern narcotics, and the remainder deal with crimes including rape, murder, and kidnapping.
Emphasizing the impact of India’s own “Bharat POL” system, Sood stated that the time taken for Interpol to process and issue requests has come down drastically from 14 months to around three months. He also noted that only eight requests are currently pending with the CBI, with the oldest petition being merely a month old.
He cautioned that despite these improvements, there is no room for complacency, as the number of notices issued remains low compared to other countries. Further, the real work begins only after an Interpol notice is published.
“The next major challenge is to trace the required fugitives and bring them back to India for judicial proceedings,” Sood added.
The conference was organized to strategize and strengthen skills, collaboration, and efforts in locating and extraditing criminals involved in corruption and other offenses across borders.
