Interpol has issued a blue corner notice seeking information about controversial self-proclaimed godman Nithyananda, who fled the country amid allegations of wrongful confinement of children, officials said on Wednesday.
The 'B' series notices or blue corner notices are also called 'enquiry notices' and may be issued in order to have someone's identity verified; to obtain particulars of a person's criminal record; to locate someone who is missing or is an identified or unidentified international criminal or is wanted for a violation of ordinary criminal law and whose extradition may be requested.
If it is considered necessary to make a request for publication of a blue corner notice against any person, the requesting authorities should furnish the detailed information mentioned. If the notice is required to be published in respect of a missing person, the detailed account of disappearance of that person should also be mentioned.
The Gujarat and Karnataka Police had sent a request to the CBI, the nodal body for Interpol matters in India, seeking a blue corner notice against Nithyananda, the officials said.
"Interpol issued the Blue Corner Notice against the controversial godman this month," Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ahmedabad (Rural), K T Kamariya, told PTI.
The police said they are now working to get Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice, a global arrest warrant, against Nithyananda. The Gujarat Police had registered an FIR against Nithyananda after two girls went missing from his ashram in Ahmedabad.
He was charged with kidnapping and wrongful confinement of children to make them collect donations from followers to run his ashram.
Nithyananda was earlier declared wanted by the Gujarat Police.
While police continue to look for him, reports emerged in December last year that he has created a Hindu nation, Kailaasa, with its own flag and political setup, on an island near Ecuador.