LeT member facing Interpol notice extradited to India from Rwanda

    New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) A member of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) facing an Interpol Red Notice was extradited to India from Rwanda on Thursday in an operation coordinated by the NIA and the CBI, officials said.
    Salman Rehman Khan, an alleged member of the internationally proscribed terrorist organisation, assisted in providing arms, ammunition and explosives to further terrorist activities in Bengaluru, they said.
    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) lodged a case in 2023 related to criminal conspiracy to spread terror in Bengaluru in which Khan was suspect, they said.
    An FIR was also registered against him at the Hebbal police station in Bengaluru.
    Khan, who was previously imprisoned in a POCSO case (2018–2022), allegedly facilitated the collection and distribution of explosives for other terror accused after being radicalised and recruited during his incarceration by T Naseer, a life convict in a terror case, according to the NIA probe.
    Naseer allegedly orchestrated the radicalisation and subsequent criminal activities to further LeT operations in the country, besides plotting his escape en route the court from the prison, the agency said.
    When the terror module was busted, Khan managed to give agencies a slip and escaped from the country, it added.
    The NIA chargesheeted Khan under the stringent anti-terror law and the Indian Penal Code while the court declared him a fugitive," the NIA said.
    "On NIA's request, the CBI got a Red Notice issued against the subject from Interpol on August 2, 2024. It was circulated to all the law enforcement agencies globally for tracking the wanted criminal," a CBI statement said.
    Based on the notice, he was apprehended by authorities in Kigali, Rwanda, on September 9, officials said.
    The information was passed on to the CBI which is the designated agency for coordination of Interpol affairs in India and the NIA.
    India placed an extradition request with Rwanda on October 29 following which an extradition order was signed on November 12, according to news reports published in the local media there.
    "The Global Operations Centre of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) closely coordinated with the NIA and Interpol National Central Bureau, Kigali, for the return to India from Rwanda of Salman Rehman Khan, wanted by the NIA for terror-related offences," a CBI spokesperson said in the statement.
    The return of Khan is the latest in a series of recent operations held in coordination with Interpol, wherein two accused -- one wanted by the CBI and another by the Kerala Police -- were brought back from Saudi Arabia.
    Barkat Ali Khan facing an Interpol Red Notice was wanted in a 2012 case of rioting and use of explosive substances. He was brought back from Saudi Arabia on November 14.
     Raihan Arabikkalalarikkal, who also had an Interpol Red Notice issued against him and was wanted by police in Pattambi, Kerala, for committing rape and sexual offences against a minor, was brought back from Saudi Arabia on November 10.
    "As the National Central Bureau for Interpol in India, the CBI coordinates closely with all law enforcement agencies in the country for cooperation over Interpol channels. Since 2021, 100 wanted criminals, including 26 this year, have been returned to India through coordination via Interpol channels," the CBI statement said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)