I am amused by India’s loudest TV anchor and a few of his ilk lionising Interpol as if it were a super investigating agency that can be ordered about by all and sundry to nab dreadful criminals. The fact is that the Lyon-based organisation is a paper tiger, a little more than a glamorous post office, which has been overrated by some ignoramuses.

Gullible TV viewers in India have been made to believe, during the past few days, that the government – both UPA and NDA – had been grievously slothful in not invoking Interpol’s assistance to bring Lalit Modi to book. The false story that has been planted in many minds is that, if only the government had wanted, Lalit Modi could have been brought back to India by the next available flight from wherever he was, and questioned, nay incarcerated, for all his alleged sins. Nothing can be farther from truth.

As one who headed Interpol in India, I believe I can speak with some authority.