Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the ‘Bharatpol’ portal, developed to enhance international cooperation for law enforcement agencies.Broadcast centre for assistance and real-time action against international crimes through international police cooperation.Bharatpol is a portal developed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) aimed at helping law enforcement agencies in India work more efficiently with international police forces.Bharatpol will streamline international cooperation by enabling faster and more direct communication with INTERPOL. It will expedite criminal investigations involving international crimes by providing real-time assistance.
Bharatpol has five major modules – Connect, INTERPOL Notice, Reference, Broadcast and Resource.
- Through Connect, all our law enforcement agencies will essentially function as INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau (NCB-New Delhi).
- Requests for assistance from INTERPOL’s 195 member countries will be available on the Broadcast module.
- Resource module will facilitate easy sharing and management of documents and resources.
Reasons for development of Bharatpol by CBI
- CBI acts as the National Central Bureau for INTERPOL in India (NCB-New Delhi) and connects all law enforcement agencies in India with law enforcement agencies of 195 other countries through INTERPOL.
- Currently Indian agencies coordinate with INTERPOL through emails, letters and faxes which leads to delay in investigations.
- Bharatpol has been launched to make this process faster and more efficient, as transnational crimes are on the rise and there is a need for prompt international cooperation.
Salient Features of Bharatpol Portal
- Integrated Platform: The portal integrates CBI as INTERPOL (NCB-New Delhi) with all law enforcement authorities in India, Superintendents of Police (SPs) and Commissioners of Police (CPs) thereby ensuring a unified approach to international cooperation.
- Quick Information Dissemination: The portal enables CBI and NCB to rapidly share criminal intelligence and inputs received from 195 countries with all law enforcement agencies in India thereby providing real-time access to critical information.
- Simplified Request Mechanism: The portal allows frontline police officers to request simple and quick international assistance from 195 INTERPOL member countries using standardised templates.
- Enhancing Use of INTERPOL Notices: The portal will simplify the drafting of Red Corner Notice requests and other colour-coded notices of INTERPOL. This will help in effective tracking of crime, criminals and proceeds of crime globally.
- Capacity Building and Training: The portal also provides access to relevant documents, templates and training resources, enhancing the capacity of frontline officers to conduct investigations abroad and effectively receive foreign assistance through INTERPOL.