New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has successfully coordinated the extradition of a murder convict through INTERPOL after a nine-month effort. Mainpal Dhilla alias Mainpal Badli alias Sonu Kumar, who was serving a life sentence when he fled the country, was brought back on Tuesday and handed over to the Haryana Police.
Dhilla was on the run for over seven years after being granted a six-week parole in 2018.
“The CBI worked in collaboration with the Haryana Police, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs in this case. Dhilla is a notorious criminal wanted by the Haryana Police in a number of cases. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, attempted murder, illegal use of firearms and criminal conspiracy on April 29, 2013,” a senior official said.
The sentencing was on the basis of an FIR registered on September 26, 2007, at the Sadar Bahadurgarh police station. He was previously convicted in two more cases. While serving his sentence, he was released on six weeks parole from the Hisar Central Jail on July 17, 2018. He was to return to jail by August 29 that year but he absconded.
“On November 6, 2024, the CBI got a Red Notice published against Dhilla through INTERPOL. This was on the request of Haryana Police. The CBI then contacted NCB Bangkok for the location of the subject. It then came to be known that he had moved from Thailand to Cambodia. Subsequently, CBI coordinated with the authorities in Cambodia and informed them that the man was in that country on a fraudulently acquired passport under the fake name of Sonu Kumar. A formal request for provisional arrest was sent to NCB-Phnom Penh, Cambodia through INTERPOL channels on March 26, 2025,” the official said.
“On July 24, NCB-Phnom Penh conveyed information of Dhilla’s arrest and sought an Extradition Request through diplomatic channels. Cambodian authorities later intimated that they had decided to hand him over to Indian authorities. A team of Haryana Police went to Cambodia accordingly and brought him back,” he added.
Red Notices published by INTERPOL are circulated to all law enforcement agencies globally for tracking of wanted criminals. According to the official, the CBI – being the National Central Bureau for INTERPOL in India – coordinates with all law enforcement agencies in the country through BHARATPOL for assistance through INTERPOL channels. More than 100 wanted criminals have been brought back to India in the last few years through such coordinated efforts.