CBI chief in race for Interpol secretary general post

NEW DELHI: CBI director Ranjit Sinha could be the first Indian to become secretary general of international law-enforcement agency Interpol.
CBI, sources said, recently sent Sinha’s name to the ministry of external affairs and urged it to seek support from Asian members of Interpol’s 13-member executive committee. However, MEA is yet to decide on the matter. “If the name is cleared, for the first time an Indian would be shortlisted for the post of secretary general of Interpol,” said a senior official.
The secretary general heads Interpol’s general secretariat in Lyon, France and is effectively the chief full-time official of the organization. The secretary general is appointed by Interpol’s general assembly for a period of five years and may be re-elected. Ronald K Noble is the current secretary general and his third term ends soon.
Dealing with all 190 member countries on international police cooperation, the secretary general usually oversees the day-to-day work of Interpol along with implementation of the decisions of the general assembly and executive committee.
Experts said that even though CBI, which is the nodal agency of Interpol having its National Central Bureau (NCB) in New Delhi, has good relations with Interpol, an Indian becoming secretary general may help Indian agencies in investigations abroad. CBI, ED and other agencies are probing several scams like 2G, AgustaWestland, CWG and others in which investigations are pending abroad.

(CBI director Ranjit Sinha)
Being one of the oldest members of Interpol, having joined it in 1949, CBI regularly coordinates with Interpol on different cases and help sought by other countries. The CBI director is the head of National Central Bureau of Interpol in New Delhi.
NCB India maintains a round-the-clock communication network, issuing red corner and other notices, processing requests from law enforcement authorities of different countries through their NCBs, gathering information through Interpol Liaison Officers (ILOs) of different states, collating data from various enforcement and investigation agencies and providing it to the Interpol database and retrieving and making available relevant data to India’s investigation agencies.