NEW DELHI: Launching an online platform ‘BHARATPOL’, developed by the CBI for law enforcement agencies to seek real-time Interpol assistance, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that it was time for crime investigators to use modern technology and techniques to nab fugitives.The Home Minister also underlined that the real-time interface was the most important feature of the portal, as it would allow central and state law enforcement agencies to easily connect with the Interpol and speed up their investigations.“It is time that we use modern technology and techniques to nab and bring to justice the fugitives who absconded from India after committing a crime,” Shah said, while asserting that there was a need to keep an eye on global challenges and update our internal systems and BHARATPOL is a step in that direction.The Home Minister also said that the new portal will allow central and state law enforcement agencies to share and obtain information on their cases from the 195 member nations of the Interpol.Mentioning about the three new criminal laws, which were enacted last year, Shah said they allow trials against fugitives and absconders in absentia. “I would urge the CBI to take the responsibility of training the states for capacity building regarding BHARATPOL and also for the three new criminal laws,” he noted and asked for the institutionalisation of systems along with the knowledge of various kinds of Interpol notices and their procedures.According to CBI officials, BHARATPOL is the new cutting-edge online platform allowing police forces of states and Union Territories and central agencies to seamlessly send their requests seeking information from Interpol on fugitives holed abroad or other affairs.They said that the need to develop rapid and real-time international assistance in criminal investigations was felt due to the growing footprint of transnational crimes including cyber-crime, financial crimes, online radicalization, organised crimes, drug trafficking and human trafficking.“At the central, state, and UT levels, this coordination is executed through Interpol Liaison Officers (ILOs), who are further linked to Unit Officers (UOs) at the level of Superintendents of Police, Commissioners of Police and Branch Heads, within their respective organisations. Presently, communications among the CBI, ILOs, and UOs primarily rely on letters, emails and faxes,” a senior officer said..
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