Extradition pact with Thailand will help India
Signed after 20 years of tiresome negotiations, the extradition treaty between India and Thailand could not have come a day sooner. The bilateral agreement, which was formalised during the course of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's day-long visit to Bangkok late last week, provides the legal framework necessary for both countries to bring home those that have been accused of terrorism, transnational crimes and economic offences, but are in the custody of the other. The treaty, for instance, paves the way for New Delhi to ramp up its pressure on Bangkok for the extradition of Sayeed Muzakkir Mudassar Hussain, a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim.
Popularly known as Munna Jhingada, he is currently holed up in a Thai prison after being convicted for his failed assassination attempt on Dawood's arch-rival Chhota Rajan in Bangkok back in 2000. Jhingada is wanted in India for several crimes relating to the underworld and unsurprisingly, he is also ‘wanted' by Pakistan. There are widespread fears within Pakistan that if he is sent to India, he will reveal insider information — particularly about the D-company's nefarious links to that country.
And so it is that a turf war has ensued between India and Pakistan over the custody of Jhingada who, in fact, is soon to be released from prison. Even as recently as March this year, Pakistani authorities sought to convince their counterparts in Thailand that Jhingada was a citizen of their country. This, even though India had already provided substantial evidence that the D-company sharp-shooter was born and raised on its side of the border. Jhingada's case must also be viewed together with that of another high-ranking D-company lieutenant — Yusuf Godhrawala. A narcotics specialist and gun-runner, Godhrawala is wanted in India for rioting but was extradited to Pakistan by Thailand last year. Against this backdrop, it is easy to see how the new extradition treaty could prove to be a game-changer.
Clearly, Thailand has served as a safe haven for Indian criminals who have used the absence of a bilateral security mechanism between the two countries to their benefit. But the extradition treaty, alongside the agreement on the exchange of prisoners as well the memorandum of understanding for facilitating cooperation in investigation into money laundering (both of which were also formalised during the Prime Minister's trip), should go a long way in plugging the loopholes in the system. But that is not all. The prisoner transfer agreement, for instance, should offer relief to the 60-odd Indian prisoners lodged in Thai jails, mostly on charges of drug trafficking. They can now hope to complete their sentence in an Indian prison. As for the MoU allowing cooperation in the investigation of financial crimes, it will bring together India's Financial Intelligence Unit and Thailand's Anti Money laundering Organisation, as both seek to shut down the money trail that funds terror activities in their countries.