In a coordinated cross-border operation spanning two Gulf nations, the Central Bureau of Investigation has secured the deportation of two Indian fugitives, one wanted in a murder case linked to a banned extremist organisation, the other the founder of a Pune-based investment firm accused of defrauding investors of roughly ₹700 crore, both deported to India on July 23 after being tracked down through Interpol Red Notices.
From Saudi Arabia: A Murder Tied to the Sreenivasan Case
The first accused, Muhammedali Kanneer Palliyalil, was wanted by the National Investigation Agency in connection with a murder and unlawful activities case linked to the killing of Sreenivasan, a case the NIA has connected to activities of the banned Popular Front of India. The CBI, acting on the NIA’s request, secured an Interpol Red Notice against him, after which he was geo-located and arrested by Saudi authorities. An extradition request followed, and after due legal process, he was deported to India on July 23.
Investigators allege Palliyalil, along with associates, was part of a criminal conspiracy in which the accused, armed with deadly weapons, allegedly trespassed into the victim’s shop, wrongfully restrained him, inflicted grievous injuries and ultimately killed him. The case continues to be investigated by the NIA, which has been building out the broader network connected to the killing.
From the UAE: A ₹700 Crore Investment Scheme Unravels
In a separate but simultaneous operation, the CBI, again working with the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs, secured the deportation of Avinash Arjun Rathod from the United Arab Emirates. Rathod is the founder of APS, a Pune-based share market and investment firm he established in 2011, which he marketed as a wealth-generation platform. He is now accused of cheating thousands of investors through promises of assured fixed monthly returns in a case investigators have pegged at roughly ₹700 crore, making it one of the more significant Ponzi-style collapses to be pursued through international extradition channels in recent years.
Investigating agencies allege Rathod, in conspiracy with associates, induced investors into multiple schemes before dishonestly misappropriating the collected funds and diverting them through a web of bank and demat accounts specifically structured to obscure the financial trail. After an Interpol Red Notice was circulated against him, he was located in the UAE and, following the required legal procedures, deported to India on July 23. On arrival in Mumbai, he was taken directly into custody by a Maharashtra Police team for further legal proceedings.
The CBI, functioning as India’s National Central Bureau for Interpol, coordinates such operations through BHARATPOL, the mechanism that facilitates tracing fugitives, securing Red Notices, and managing the diplomatic and legal steps required to bring wanted individuals back to India from abroad. According to the agency, more than 170 wanted criminals have been successfully returned to India in recent years through this Interpol-coordinated framework, spanning cases involving murder, terrorism, financial fraud, counterfeiting and organised crime.
A Pattern of Intensifying Cross-Border Enforcement
Friday’s dual deportation is not an isolated event but part of a steadily accelerating pattern of Gulf-based extraditions this year, reflecting deepening law enforcement cooperation between India and countries that have historically been common destinations for fugitives seeking to evade Indian jurisdiction. The same week saw the CBI secure the return of another accused from UAE in a separate counterfeit currency case, while Saudi Arabia’s cooperation on the Palliyalil case builds on similar prior Gulf-region deportations tied to NIA investigations into extremist-linked violence.
For victims of large-scale financial fraud in particular, cases like Rathod’s illustrate both the promise and the limits of India’s current recovery apparatus: even when a fugitive is successfully brought back to face prosecution, the actual recovery of diverted investor funds, often layered through multiple accounts specifically to defeat tracing, remains a separate and considerably harder battle that can take years to resolve even after custody is secured. Officials say strengthened international cooperation of the kind seen this week has meaningfully improved India’s ability to pursue fugitives who flee abroad, even as the parallel challenge of tracing and recovering the underlying stolen funds continues to test investigators well beyond the point of arrest.
