The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), through its International Police Cooperation Unit (IPCU) and in collaboration with Interpol’s Baku office, successfully coordinated the return of wanted gangster Sunil Kumar to India. Kumar was being sought in connection with a major extortion case and had been evading law enforcement authorities for several years.
Sunil Kumar, known to be associated with the Aman Sahu gang, was wanted by the Jharkhand Police for his role in a case registered in 2022 at Patratu. Investigations revealed that he had allegedly sent threatening WhatsApp messages under the false identity of Mayank Singh, demanding large sums of extortion money from businessmen, coal transporters, and railway contractors. Beyond this case, several other criminal cases against him were also reported in different states, further adding to his notoriety.
In October 2024, acting upon a request made by the CBI, Interpol issued a Red Notice against Sunil Kumar. These Red Notices serve as international alerts circulated to all law enforcement agencies across the globe to assist in tracking and locating wanted criminals. Based on this alert, Kumar was successfully geo-located in Azerbaijan.
Subsequently, in January 2025, India formally submitted an extradition request to the Azerbaijani authorities. Once the request was approved, a three-member team from the Jharkhand Police was dispatched to Baku on August 19, 2025, to facilitate Kumar’s return. After completing the necessary procedures, the team escorted him back, and he landed in Mumbai on Saturday.
The CBI highlighted that this operation was made possible due to close coordination between its IPCU and the National Central Bureau (NCB) in Baku, which serves as Interpol’s local liaison office. Stressing the importance of international collaboration, the agency noted, “More than 100 wanted criminals have been successfully brought back to India in the past few years through coordination via Interpol channels.”
This case adds to India’s growing record of leveraging global policing networks to bring back fugitives facing serious criminal charges at home.
