India's Diplomatic, Tech Drive Fuels Interpol Red Notices Surge, Numbers Double Since 2023
CBI has doubled Interpol's Red Notices since 2023, showing enhanced efforts in pursuing fugitives through better diplomacy, technology, and hosting key events.
Interpol's Red Notices issued at the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) request have more than doubled annually since 2023.
This significant increase indicates a fundamental change in how India pursues individuals who have fled the country to avoid justice. This shift is a direct result of insights gained from India's hosting of the Interpol General Assembly and the G20 summit, as well as the adoption of advanced technology in its efforts.
Since 2023, the number of Red Notices issued by Lyon-based International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) on India's request spiralled — 100 notices in 2023, 107 in 2024 and 56 in the first six months of 2025, as per the data accessed by news agency PTI. Meanwhile, it had issued 25 Red Notices in 2020, 47 in 2021 and 40 in 2022.
The Interpol issues eight coloured notices for different purposes to 195 member countries, alerting them on a request from a country. Recently, it has added a ninth one — Silver Notice — on a pilot basis this year to track illicit assets parked abroad.
Red Notices
An Interpol Red Notice (RCN) is a crucial alert that Interpol issues to law enforcement agencies globally. It's essentially a request to help locate and temporarily arrest an individual who is wanted for extradition, surrender, or similar legal proceedings.
It is the first crucial step in pursuing the extradition of a fugitive who escaped to a different country to evade the law.
In India, all state and central agencies submit their request for Interpol Notices to the CBI, which is the nodal agency in the country for all Interpol matters. The probe agency then makes the requests for the Notices to Interpol and coordinates with the intergovernmental organisation in follow-up.
'It is only after an RCN is issued that a fugitive can be located abroad. Once the alleged criminal is located, diplomacy and law enforcement work in tandem to secure the extradition or deportation," an official told the news agency.
Other Notices
The uptick was was recorded in other colour-coded notices as well.
The Blue Notices, through which a country seeks information about a person, have gone up from 47 in 2020 to 68 in 2024 and 82 till now in 2025; Yellow notices, used for seeking details of abductions, disappearances or identity issues, have gone up from one in 2020 to 27 in 2024 and four in 2025 (till now).
In total, 145 Interpol Notices have been issued in 2025 till now, as compared to 73 issued in 2020. Last year, 208 Notices were issued by the Interpol, the data revealed.
What's The Reason?
Officials told the news agency that India's increase in Red Notices is due to a combination of factors: skillful diplomacy, stronger institutional action, and technological upgrades. These efforts were bolstered by the country's meticulous hosting of the Interpol General Assembly in November 2022 and the G20 Summit in 2023.
On a special request from India, the Interpol General Assembly was held in 2022 to coincide with the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence, 25 years after the global confluence of police chiefs was held in India in 1997.
The 2023 G20 Summit significantly boosted India's international standing. While primarily an economic gathering of 20 major global economies and regions, the event also fostered crucial security collaborations. This led to improved legal cooperation among countries and a greater consensus on the extradition of fugitives.
In both events, India made a strong argument in favour of the extradition of fugitives wanted by a country and the denial of "safe havens" to criminals.
The CBI, which is the National Central Bureau of India, also took a leap in terms of digital sophistication, employing advanced data analytics, digitised dossiers, AI-powered profiling and seamless integration with Interpol's I-24/7 network.
In 2023, the CBI top brass emphasised on making Interpol engagement seamless and cutting down on the processing time of requests coming from state police, besides building on the negotiations during the General Assembly and G20.
The agency developed an in-house portal, Bharatpol, operationalised in January, which made the process of RCN — historically mired in paperwork and procedural torpor — frictionless and cut down the time from an average of six months to three months.
The results translated in terms of extradition as well, with the CBI coordinating closely with Interpol, as well as state and central enforcement agencies, to secure the extradition or deportation of 134 fugitives since 2020. Of these, 23 were brought back this year alone.
In contrast, only 74 fugitives were returned during the decade between 2010 and 2019. The results are encouraging but far from the targets that the agency has set for itself.
(With inputs from PTI)
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July 20, 2025, 19:00 IST
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