Officials claimed that this number represents the highest figure in over a decade. The ministry’s annual report for 2024-25 indicated that 27 fugitives/wanted persons were repatriated to India from abroad in the last financial year.
It also provided information on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which serves as the National Central Bureau (NCB) and the nodal point for Interpol in India. From April 2024 to March 2025, 74 Letters Rogatory (LRs) were dispatched abroad, with 54 linked to CBI cases and 20 related to state law enforcement and other central agencies, as detailed in the report.
Letters Rogatory refer to judicial requests made to foreign authorities seeking cooperation in investigations conducted by Indian agencies. Indian law enforcement bodies, including the CBI, confirmed that 47 LRs were fully executed during this period, while 29 were marked as closed/withdrawn due to partial execution.
As of March 31, 2025, there were 533 LRs pending with other countries, of which 276 pertained to CBI cases, while 257 related to state police and other central law enforcement authorities. Furthermore, 32 LRs or treaty-based requests were received from various countries asking for assistance in criminal investigations.
Throughout the year, different Interpol notices were issued by NCB-India targeting fugitives wanted for prosecution or to serve sentences within the country.
This included 126 red notices (requests to global law enforcement agencies to locate and provisionally arrest individuals pending extradition or legal action), 89 blue notices (seeking information about a person’s identity, whereabouts, or activities), 24 yellow notices (alerts for missing persons), seven black notices (inquiries regarding unidentified bodies), and one green notice (a warning to member countries concerning individuals viewed as potential threats to public safety), as per the report.
Through its Global Operations Centre (GOC), the CBI tracks down wanted criminals and fugitives in coordination with foreign law enforcement agencies via Interpol channels and the issuance of notices. Once the locations of suspects are determined, the CBI works with relevant law enforcement entities, Interpol national central bureaux of respective countries, as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs, to facilitate the return of wanted individuals from abroad.
Between April 2024 and March 2025, the CBI (IPCU) processed and provided feedback on over 22,200 applications for the renunciation of Indian citizenship, according to the report.
The report also included information regarding Interpol’s stolen and lost travel documents (SLTD) database.
“As of 31.03.2025, data concerning 1,91,031 stolen/lost/revoked Indian passports has been uploaded to the SLTD database. Up to 31.03.2025, 30 cases involving the use of SLTD recorded Indian passports have been reported or detected by various other NCBs,” the report specified.
