The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is all set to post Police Liaison Officers (PLO) in three countries - U.S., UK, and United Arab Emirates - to liaise with their law enforcement agencies which would help in execution of its judicial requests on real time basis.
CBI Director A P Singh on Friday said the Home Ministry has recently given ‘in principle’ approval for the proposal and the posts of these police liaison officers would be ‘operationalised’ shortly.
“With a view to enable CBI to follow up the execution of pending Letters Rogatory on real time basis and maintain close liaison with other law enforcement agencies, it was proposed to post police liaison officers from the CBI in countries with whom we deal most frequently in criminal matters,’’ he said at the 13th D P Kohli memorial lecture here.
Mr. Singh said with the advent of the Internet the national boundaries have blurred for the criminals giving them unprecedented reach.
“Financial integration has facilitated the parking of proceeds of crime in international safe havens. These developments pose new challenges to the law enforcement agencies due to complex legal and procedural issues involved in such investigations,’’ Mr. Singh said.
On the issue of Lokpal, he expressed happiness that during the parliamentary debate on the issue a number of parties across the board demanded a stronger and more autonomous CBI.
“The pivotal role of the CBI in the anti-corruption apparatus of the country was highlighted before the Parliamentary Standing Committee... The need for greater functional and financial autonomy to CBI, while retaining its present structure, was also stressed,’’ he said.
