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Kohli pleads innocence; legal formalities may delay extradition
Subhrangshu Gupta
Tribune News Service

Kolkata, July 16
Legal formalities are likely to delay the extradition of Maninderpal Singh Kohli, the prime accused in the killing of British girl Hannah Foster, from India to England.

Kohli, who fled Southmpton, Hamsphie, after the incident of rape and killing of Foster on March 14 last year, was tracked down yesterday near a bus stand at Kalimpong, Darjeeling, on the Indo-Nepal border along with his newly married wife, Bharati.

Produced in the SDJM’s court at Kalimpong today, he remanded in police custody for 14 days. On July 29, he will be again produced in the court.

Though the Union Home Ministry and the state Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, stressed that necessary steps would be adopted for an expeditious disposing of the case in the courts at Kalimpong and Chandigarh, the legal formalities were bound to delay Kohli’s extradition to England, the state Home Secretary, Mr A.K. Deb said.

A team of senior police officials of Punjab will fly to Darjeeling tomorrow morning for interrogating Kohli, who has been a resident of Patiala. The Punjab Police will take the necessary permission from the court for taking Kohli to Punjab for further investigation.

Kohli was arrested under the pseudoname of Dr Mike Davies. He was recently attached to the Kalimpong branch of the Indian Red Cross Society and involved in various welfare activities in the area during his seven-month stay there.

Kohli spent a few months in Chennai, Mumbai and Chandigarh and ultimately settled down at Kalimpong after marrying Bharati, a Nepali girl, who is the daughter of an official of the Red Cross Society at Kalimpong.

Mr Rajiv Mishra, SP Darjeeling, who interrogated Kohli last night, disclosed that the latter had pleaded innocence and denied his involvement in the incident of rape and killing of Foster.

He admitted that he was living at Kalimpong under disguise for evading arrest.

Punjab to hasten process
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 16
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said today that his government would extend full cooperation to the Union Government for the extradition of Maninderpal Singh Kohli, who has been arrested by the West Bengal Police in connection with the murder of a British school girl, Hannah Foster, to the U.K.

He said a team of Punjab Police officers was already on the way to Assam to bring Maninder to Punjab. A criminal case is also pending in Mohali against Kohli, who belongs to Punjab but was settled in the U.K. He had fled from UK allegedly after disposing off the body of Hannah Foster. The Chief Minister said that if Maninder was really involved in the murder, then it was an unpardonable sin committed by him.