KOCHI: The Kochi city police, which recently got an Interpol blue corner notice issued against rape accused actor-producer Vijay Babu, have initiated the procedure for a red corner notice, which will officially declare him a fugitive evading Indian law. For this, the police have secured a warrant for his arrest from a local court. They are awaiting communication from Dubai police following issuance of the blue notice. The red notice will also be an official request to the Dubai police to provisionally arrest Babu pending extradition or surrender procedure.
“We have not yet taken a decision to send a team to Dubai as we expect the Dubai police to trace Babu and pass on his details to us,” City Police Commissioner C H Nagaraju told TNIE. “Once a confirmation is received, a request for red corner notice will be sent based on the warrant. The court has issued it,” he said. The request for the red notice will be processed through the CBI allowing the Kochi police to extradite Babu from Dubai.
Police are expecting to complete the procedures in the next few days in a bid to try and arrest him before the Kerala High Court takes up his anticipatory bail plea on or after May 18. The decision to go ahead with the procedures to arrest him via Interpol has also been taken in hopes that the High Court rejects his anticipatory bail plea.
While the blue notice is only a request to locate a person abroad, the red notice is a request to the country, where the criminal is staying, to provisionally arrest him/her. It is issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or for serving a sentence.
Though the red notice would be a request to arrest Babu, it will not serve as an international arrest warrant. Things depend on how the UAE law enforcement officials handle the notice. “The UAE has the right to decide whether to act on the notice or not. Generally, member countries oblige to such requests considering the gravity of the crime,” said an official.