Union Home secy inaugurates Interpol liaison officers' workshop

New Delhi [India], December 27 : Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Tuesday inaugurated the Interpol Liaison Officers Workshop organised by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in New Delhi.
The workshop, on the subject 'Letters Rogatory (LRs)/ Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT) and Extradition matters', was attended by Interpol Liaison Officers (ILOs) from States, Union Territories, CBI and other law enforcement agencies.
Speaking on occasion, Home Secretary Bhalla said the Ministry of Home Affairs has designed a new online portal for Mutual Legal Assistant Treaty (MLAT)/ Letter Rogatory(LR) requests which can be utilised for the purpose and assured further assistance if needed.
For effective law enforcement in respect of crimes having transnational footprints, Bhalla emphasised on the need to further impart training on LRs and MLATs to personnel in the law enforcement chain and offered all assistance in this regard, including organising workshops and conferences in the states.

Union Home Secretary further stressed that the request from other countries for legal assistance should also be treated on priority, as part of reciprocity. He invited feedback and practical suggestions towards improving the efficacy of international cooperation channels for assistance in criminal matters.
It was underlined that LEAs should make use of informal channels of police cooperation for seeking & sharing information on the 24X7 platform of Interpol through CBI as NCB India. The workshop also focussed on utilising Interpol Notices and drafting requests focusing on crime.
The one-day workshop deliberated on the subjects "Presentation on Guidelines of MLA/LRs and procedural aspects of drafting LRs/MLA requests; Presentation on new MLA/LR portal, Presentation on extradition guidelines and procedural aspect of drafting extradition requests; Informal Cooperation through Interpol and points to be kept in mind while making request for Interpol Matters."