4 min readMumbaiJan 21, 2026 08:13 PM IST
First published on: Jan 21, 2026 at 08:13 PM IST
The detention of Sangram Patil, a UK-based doctor and YouTuber, at the Mumbai airport on January 10 over comments allegedly made on social media against BJP leaders has highlighted how the Mumbai Police are increasingly using Lookout Circulars (LOC) to act against accused involved in internet based offences from outside the country.
While generally LOCs are associated with accused in major cases such as the ones issued against industrialists Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi or gangster Anmol Bishnoi, Mumbai police officials say they have been able to use it more effectively in cases related to online content.
Officials say that when it comes to offenders in major offences, they are aware about these procedures but it is in relatively lesser offences like objectionable social media posts that the accused are caught unawares.
In August 2025, the Mumbai crime branch arrested Mohammad Dilshad Naved, an accused who had sent threat mails to Zeeshan Siddiqui, son of slain NCP leader Baba Siddiqui in April, 25. Police had identified the sender as Naved, a Bihar native working at his uncle’s shop in Trinidad and Tobago.
An FIR was registered and an LOC was issued against him and four months later when he landed in the city, the airport authorities alerted police who placed him under arrest. It later emerged that he had also sent threat mails to cricketer Rinku Singh.
An official said that in another case where threat mails had been received to actor Salman Khan in March 2023, they had identified the person as a college student from a north Indian state currently studying in the UK.
“We have issued an LOC against him as well and whenever he returns to the country, we will follow the necessary procedure after authorities inform us,” the official added.
A senior officer said that in several cases, people connected to India who are based abroad think that since they are out of the country, they can get away by posting something derogatory online or issuing threats via mail. Even after an FIR is registered, they think everything will be forgotten in some time, the official said.
“However, in all these cases, after an FIR is registered, we have the technology to trace them. We then get an LOC issued against the person. Issuing of LOC is not only restricted to major cases but in any case, where the offender is at large — be it within the country or outside,” the officer said.
While the duration of a standing LOC has changed over the years from six months to a year but as per new rules, a standing LOC remains in effect till officially withdrawn. So, whenever the accused returns to the country, even if the officers probing the case have moved to other postings, the unit receives an alert from the immigration department and the necessary action is taken, the officer said.
“It has been an effective tool in such cases where we do not know when the accused will return to the country. Some think that after some time passes, things will die down but the LOC remains in effect,” he added.
The official said that an LOC could be to “detain and inform”, where immigration authorities detain the person and alert the Law Enforcement Agency (LEA), “prevent and inform” in which case a person wanting to leave the country is stopped from doing so and LEA is informed.
In the last category, which is mainly for surveillance purposes, where an offence has not been registered an LOC could be to just inform the authorities of a person leaving the country without alerting him/her about the same.
In the case of Dr Sangram Patil, as soon as he was detained at the airport, his LOC was downgraded to “prevent and inform” due to which he was not allowed to leave the country on January 19 when he tried.
The Bengaluru police have summoned the complainant’s wife to verify claims regarding the alleged circulation of private material. (Representative Image) 
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