Delhi asks Dubai to deport Patni

With New Delhi requesting Dubai to deport Mumbai blast accused Zahid Patni, stage is set for India and United Arab Emirates to formalise the...

With New Delhi requesting Dubai to deport Mumbai blast accused Zahid Patni, stage is set for India and United Arab Emirates to formalise their information and intelligence sharing agreement on wanted Indian criminals seeking refuge or passing through the Sheikhdom.

Patni was detained on the basis of a red corner alert issued by the Interpol, following the twin bomb blasts in Mumbai on August 25. Confirming the detention of Patni by the Dubai police, sources in the Home Ministry said he was likely to be deported soon. The Ministry of External Affairs has already moved a request seeking his deportation to India through diplomatic channels, sources said.

Patni was allegedly associated with the Gujarat Revenge Group, the outfit suspected to have carried out the blasts in Mumbai. The arrest of Arshad Ansari, a co-accused in the explosions, facilitated information about Patni. The Mumbai police informed the CBI about him, which, in turn, got the Interpol alert issued and also sent a request to Dubai. Going by the recent trend, the government was hopeful of a quick response from Dubai.

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‘‘We have been getting positive signals from UAE, especially the Dubai authorities. They were quick to deport Ijaz Pathan, the accused in the Ghatkopar blast, to India. Since extradition is a long drawn legal process, deportation is more convenient,’’ said a senior Home Ministry official.

To make the process still easier, and facilitate deportation of Indian criminals and gangsters from UAE, New Delhi has sent a draft agreement to Abu Dhabi, working towards the setting up of an institutionalised system. This would mean sharing of information and intelligence of mutual interest, and acting upon it as much as possible.

Sources said the draft agreement was sent soon after the visit of UAE Chief of Defence Staff Lt Gen Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — third son of the UAE ruler — in July. It was the first ever strategic dialogue between the two countries.

Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani revived the issue when former Indian Ambassador to UAE K.C. Singh called upon him, before taking over as the Indian Ambassador in Iran last week.

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‘‘Though we are still waiting for an official commitment on the issue from the UAE government, the signals have been positive,’’ the official said. The government is also working on removing a minor anomaly from the draft agreement, which may give rise to problems later. The draft talks about the Intelligence Bureau (IB) coordinating with Abu Dhabi security agencies and not the CBI.

‘‘The problem is that the IB does not have power either to arrest or to investigate, whereas the CBI has both. And moreover, it’s the CBI which is authorised to coordinate with the Interpol. That change is being made in the draft,’’ ministry sources added.