Most embarrassed: Another goof-up in India's list

In another major embarrassment for the government, two more 'fugitives' in India's most wanted list handed over to Pakistan were found to be in the country, following which a Central Bureau of Investigation inspector was suspended and two of its senior officials transferred.

The CBI announced on Thursday night that an inspector was suspended and a superintendent and a deputy superintendent transferred for the "lapse" after a preliminary inquiry.

CBI Director A P Singh has ordered a complete review of the Interpol wing and the most wanted list will be thoroughly scrutinised in consultation with state police and other agencies, CBI spokesperon Dharini Mishra said.

India's list of '50 most wanted' has the name of Feroz Abdul Khan, alias Hamza, an accused in 1993 Mumbai blast case, who was arrested from a village in Navi Mumbai in February last year and was handed over to the CBI for further investigation.

CBI had issued an Interpol Red Corner Notice against Khan in 1994 but the notice was not withdrawn even after the agency has got his custody.

"The CBI has conveyed to the Home Ministry that the lapse was on the agency's part. When CBI forwarded the list to Ministry of Home Affairs, they forgot to delete the name of this person," a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

Khan is alleged to have facilitated transport and distribution of arms and ammunitions during the blast and subsequently. Mumbai police had alleged that following Dawood Ibrahim's instructions, Khan arranged for landing of arms allegedly used in the blast.

In the second instance, the name of Raj Kumar Meghen, a United National Libration Front leader, figures in the list. He is now in the custody of the National Investigation Agency. His name continues to figure on the Interpol watchlist for terrorism, use of explosives and organised crime.

Earlier, Wazhur Kamar Khan, whose name had also figured in India's most wanted list, was traced in Mumbai. The CBI had egg on its face when its team landed in Copenhagen to seek extradition of the main accused in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case Kim Davy with an expired arrest warrant.

The CBI admitted today there was a "slip up" over the issue of the arrest warrant that expired in January this year. A two-member CBI team, which reached Copenhagen on May 16, was in for a surprise after Davy's counsel pointed out during court proceedings there that the arrest warrant issued by a special CBI court in Kolkata against his client had expired in January this year.

A red-faced CBI is trying to find out how the Red Corner Notice warrant for Davy had a time limit for executing it as such warrants are generally issued by courts with an "open" time frame.