India, Oct. 28 -- Inside Delhi's Tihar Prison Complex, construction crews are working around the clock to finish two new high-security wards - designed not for hardened local criminals, but for white-collar fugitives the Indian government is seeking to extradite back to the country. The wards, expected to be ready within 10 days, are being built in jail numbers 4 and 7 to house high-profile economic offenders whose extradition has long been stalled by concerns over Indian prison conditions, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

The move comes after officials from Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) inspected Tihar in September to assess whether the facility could meet the standards required to house extradited indivi...