NEW DELHI: In a big win over transnational criminals on the run, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), along with Haryana Police, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has brought back wanted criminal Mainpal Dhilla, alias Sonu Kumar, from Cambodia. He was brought back to India on Tuesday.
Dhilla, also referred to as Mainpal Badli, is a convicted offender with a number of convictions.
He was awarded life imprisonment in 2013 for murder, attempted murder, illicit use of firearms and criminal conspiracy in a case registered at Sadar Bahadurgarh Police Station in 2007. He was previously convicted in two other cases.
During his imprisonment in Hisar Central Jail, Dhilla was granted six weeks’ parole on July 17, 2018, but did not report back by August 29, 2018, and went absconding.
At Haryana Police’s behest, the CBI obtained a Red Notice against Dhilla from INTERPOL in November last year.
NCB Bangkok inputs provided his travel history between Thailand and Cambodia, where he was discovered living under an assumed name on a fraudulently obtained passport.
On a request by India, NCB-Phnom Penh provisionally arrested him in July and subsequently confirmed his extradition to Indian authorities. A Haryana Police team subsequently flew to Cambodia to bring him back.
As India’s National Central Bureau for INTERPOL, the CBI has an important role in coordinating with international law enforcement agencies.