The Most Wanted is a most wanted list maintained by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA). Individuals usually are removed from the list only when they are captured, die or the charges against them are dropped.[1]
In May 2011, following the killing of Osama bin Laden, India released a list of the 50 most wanted fugitives it alleged were hiding in Pakistan. The list was prepared in consultation with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the NIA,[2] the Intelligence Bureau (IB)[3][4] and various law enforcement agencies.[5] According to Home Ministry spokesperson Onkar Kedia, the CBI had named 40 people and the NIA included 10 suspected terrorists in the list.[6] However, it was later discovered that two of the people on the list submitted by the CBI were actually in India (one in jail, and the other was out on bail), following which the Home Ministry directed the agencies to review the list.[3] India prepared a new list containing 48 names,[7][8] and handed it over to Pakistan in July 2011.[9] The list contained Interpol red corner notices, details of the crimes committed, aliases and Pakistani passport and identity document numbers of those allegedly hiding in Pakistan.[10]
Similar lists had been given to Pakistani authorities in 2004, 2007, 2010[11] and March 2011.[12] However, then Home Minister P. Chidambaram stated in a May 2011 interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN that "they never acted on any list", were "always dismissive" and described the process as a "ritual".[13][14] He also blamed the CBI for errors in the 2011 list.[15]
On 26 May 2013, DNA reported that NIA had asked every state to send a report every three months on the latest activities and intelligence about the fugitives on its list. A senior police officer told the newspaper that they had to provide "the latest information on the latest locations of these fugitives, whether they are dead or alive and if they attended any religious functions recently". The move was reportedly taken to prevent mistakes in the list, like the ones that had been found in the 2011 list.[16]
In October 2018, the NIA released a new Most Wanted list containing 258 names, including 15 women, with the maximum reward on offer for the arrest of Maoist leader Mupalla L. Rao (aka Ganapathy).[17]