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Wanted by Interpol, but could not be arrested

A Correspondent

NEDUMBASSERY (Kerala): A passenger, against whom a Look-Out Circular had been issued by the Interpol, was detained by immigration officials at the Cochin International Airport here on Tuesday morning and was set free in the evening. They cited a legal barrier to arrest him.

The officials said the suspect, Jose Mathew from Idukki, who arrived here to board an Etihad flight, was put under custody in anticipation of a CBI team arriving to take charge of him. But an official communication from the CBI headquarters in the evening asked the officials to release Mathew, citing a legal barrier to extradite him to Qatar.

Sources said the Look-out Circular was issued by the Interpol in 1998 after Mathew had been convicted in a cheating case by the Doha Court in 1995. He was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment but he escaped to India.

But, as Qatar and India had not signed any mutual agreement for extraditing criminals, there was no provision to arrest Mathew and hand him over to Qatar authorities, the sources said. However, he would not be able to leave the country as long as the Look-out Circular held.

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