Centre steps in as Punjab cops get egg on face in Nepal
An unsanctioned operation by Indian police in Nepal led to diplomatic tension, prompting India's home ministry to issue guidelines for foreign investigations.
An unsanctioned operation carried out by a team of Indian police officers in Nepal recently caused a diplomatic stir, forcing the ministry of home affairs (MHA) to write a sternly worded letter to the chief secretaries and police chiefs of all the states and Union territories asking them to ensure that prior permission is taken before visiting any foreign country for conducting investigations, according to people familiar with the matter.
The incident happened in the last week of February, when a team of about half a dozen officers from Punjab police’s anti-gangster task force (AGTF) reportedly tried to nab a wanted criminal from near a restaurant in the Nagarjun area on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
As Nepal police got information about the Indian officers trying to carry out an operation without their knowledge, they swung into action and restricted the Punjab cops.
The matter, people in Delhi aware of the developments said, requesting anonymity, was sorted out at the level of top officers in Delhi, who spoke to their counterparts in Kathmandu, after which the Indian officers were allowed to leave.
“The police team’s visit without any approval caused embarrassment for the Indian side,” said one of the officers cited above.
India and Nepal are trying to keep the incident under wraps as both sides regularly assist each other, both formally and informally, in criminal investigations, said officers in the know.
HT reached out to Nepal’s ministry of home affairs. Ramchandra Tiwari, joint secretary and spokesperson in Nepal’s home ministry, said, “We don’t have information about such an incident”.
Pramod Ban, head of Punjab’s AGTF, tried to downplay the incident, saying, “Our team had gone to collect information, not conduct any operation”. Asked about the Nepal police detaining his men, Ban said “nothing of that sort happened”.
Indian government officials didn’t formally comment on the matter.
Concerned over the goof-up caused by the unsanctioned visit by Punjab police, the MHA on March 19 wrote a letter to the chief secretaries of all states/UTs, director generals of police (DGPs), and the Delhi Police commissioner. HT has accessed the details of this letter.
Without naming the country, the MHA said in its communique, “It has been observed in a recent case that a state police team had visited a foreign country for investigations in a criminal matter without prior authorisation from the competent authority in that country, leading to an adverse situation”.
The ministry asserted that the “visit by state police personnel to any foreign country for investigations in criminal matters, without prior approval of the competent authorities in the foreign country and knowledge of the MEA (ministry of external affairs) or Indian mission concerned, could lead to avoidable embarrassment.”
“Therefore, it is requested that police personnel may appropriately be sensitised to ensure that proper approvals at the appropriate level are taken prior to any visit to a foreign country for conducting investigations.”
It further said that “the concerned Indian mission or MEA may also be kept informed of such visit”.
According to the MHA’s existing guidelines, as any investigating officer of India does not enjoy police powers or investigative powers in a foreign country, such a visit by an investigating officer without the express consent of any country may be considered interference in the sovereignty of that country unless some required formalities are observed.
Whenever it is considered necessary to send a team of officers abroad, the investigating agency or state government/UT may send a proposal to Internal Security-II division of the MHA (Central Authority of India) for obtaining the approval for the proposed visit, the guidelines state.
After obtaining prior approval, the visiting police team must also get in touch with the Indian mission in the respective country upon their arrival.
The all-India services conduct rules also state that police officers need political clearance from the MEA and security clearance from the MHA for any investigation or official work on foreign soil. Even for personal trips, police officers need to inform the government.
Indian agencies have, in the past, smoothly carried out several operations in Nepal and the Indo-Nepal border. Jailed Indian Mujahideen (IM) chief Yasin Bhatkal was caught near the Nepal border in 2013. Similarly, the Gurugram kidney racket main accused Dr Amit Kumar was caught by a CBI team with the help of Nepal police from Kathmandu in 2008.
