UPDATED:
2007:
- July 22,2005: NRI
Kohli's informers were paid reward by UK police
- Britain requested
extradition of Maninder Pal Singh Kohli rapist
- Chandigarh, Aug 25, 2004: Kohli's
judicial custody extended till Sept 1
- Chandigarh, Aug 19, 2004:
Kohli says, his
confession before TV was not "of his own will" has left
top Punjab Police officials red-faced.
 July
30, 2004: Kohli's wife doesn't
want him hanged
- Chandigarh: July 28, 2004: Kohli
'confesses' to rape, murder of Hannah Foster
- Kolkata, July 24, 2004: Kohli
admitted to hospital
- New Delhi, July 22: Call
centre helped nail Hannah Foster rapist
- Claiming a 58,400
pounds (Rs.5 million) reward: Kolkata, July 15,
2004: Several
Indians, including a policeman as 'Informers' claiming a 58,400
pounds (Rs.5 million) reward for the arrest of Kohli
  Kolkata,
July 15, 2004: NRI Maninder Pal Singh
Kohli, the prime suspect in the murder of British student Hannah
Foster, has been arrested.
Murdered Hannah Foster's family remember 18th birthday
By Charlotte Hawkins
Aug 31, 2003, 12:14
Police say they are still confident of catching the killer of
Southampton student Hannah Foster - on what would have been her
18th birthday.
Hannah Foster was abducted just yards from her home in Portswood
on March 14th after a night out with friends. Two days later her
body was found dumped in undergrowth in the West End area of South.
The call was made from the 17-year-old's mobile phone on Friday
10 minutes after she waved goodbye to a friend in Highfield Lane,
just five minutes walk from her home in Grosvenor Road.
A post-mortem examination revealed she had been strangled but there
was no sign of sexual assault.
Detective Superintendent Alan Betts said the call, which was logged
at 2300 GMT, lasted for less than two minutes and had faint sounds
in the background but nothing immediately discernible.
The prime suspect in the case - Maninder Pal Singh Kholi, who
is 35, has still not been traced after fleeing to India days after
Hannah's body was found.
Hampshire Police say the investigation is now in the hands of the
Indian authorities - but officers are planning to return to India
to help execute an arrest warrant. They say they are still confident
that whoever murdered Hannah Foster will be caught.
July 21: The Chandigarh detective leading the hunt for
the fugitive suspect in the killing
of a British schoolgirl has been taken off the case amid mounting
frustration at Punjab
police’s failure to make an arrest in over four months of inquiries.
Detective inspector Dinkar Gupta has been replaced by inspector-general
Ravinder Gupta as head of the unit tasked with
tracking Maninder Pal Singh Kohli
He has evaded police since his arrival in India on March 18,
days after the rape and murder of 17-year-old Hannah Foster in
southern England.
Kohli, 35, was last seen on March 28, as he left his brother,
policeman Ishtpreet Singh’s Chandigarh home after receiving a
late-night telephone call from the UK. He had arrived unexpectedly
some nine days earlier, claiming he wished to visit their ailing
mother.
“I’m no longer dealing with the case, and was posted out some
two weeks ago,” Dinkar Gupta said, following British press reports
identifying him as the officer leading the manhunt. “We had been
trying to locate the suspect’s whereabouts, and I felt we had
been making good progress on various leads.”
The detective inspector confirmed his frustration at red tape
that had held up the search. “By the time all the paperwork was
completed, the suspect had a big head start. He had a lot of time
to plan his moves. I feel confident we should be able to find
him, but it’s difficult to say how soon.”
The detective inspector’s replacement comes as British police
voiced their frustration at the continuing failure to track the
suspect, and issued requests to the Indian authorities for further
involvement in the investigation.
Detective inspector Alan Betts of Hampshire police said: “It
is frustrating and in an ideal world we would be able to go on
a plane and go out there and arrest him. But it is now an Indian
police inquiry and we are liaising with them in order to bring
about an arrest as soon as possible.”
Betts had flown to Punjab with a team of detectives in April
but returned a fortnight later with the suspect still at large.
He confirmed efforts were underway to secure permission for increased
British police involvement in the Indian investigation. “We have
made a formal application with the Crown Prosecution Service to
carry out inquiries in India.”
“A number of inquiries are needed to make sure a full file is
available should court proceedings become active. The inquiries
are not in connection with tracing the direct whereabouts of the
suspect, this is a matter for the Indian police. Hampshire police
continue to liaise closely with Indian police and remain committed
to assisting the Indian authorities in every possible way,” he
said.
Hampshire police have launched a new online appeal with details
of the case reported in Punjabi and Hindi, along with closed-circuit
television images of Kohli only hours after the Southampton student
was found murdered.
The appeal, which can be found at www.hampshire.police.uk/HannahFoster.htm,
is accompanied by a Rs 500,000 reward for information leading
to the capture of Kohli, one of Britain’s most wanted men.
“The Web is a vital tool in enabling us to reach people all over
the world, and, in particular, the subcontinent of India,” Betts
said.
Hannah’s body was found in a shallow grave two days before Kohli
fled to India, abandoning his wife and two children.
Hannah, described by her parents as a “graceful girl who wanted
to help others”, had hoped to qualify as a doctor, and had been
accepted to study medicine at Bristol and Cardiff universities.
Hannah murder suspect's father said he won't protect
him if guilty
The father of the suspect in the murder case of teenager Hannah
Foster says he will not protect his son if he is "guilty."
In an interview with the Times of India, 70-year-old Jagjit Singh
said he believes his son Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, is innocent.
Police in Hampshire named him as the main suspect in the murder
of 17-year-old Hannah. Her body was found on March 16 dumped in
undergrowth in Allington Lane, West End, in the outskirts of Southampton.
A post mortem revealed she had been strangled, and police also
say she was raped.
His father said: "I believe he is innocent. I don't think he
could rape and kill a teenage girl, but if he is guilty, as the
police says he is, then I will be the last person to help him."
Three Hampshire detectives are currently in India to trace the
35-year-old Kohli, who fled there four days after Hannah was abducted
from close to her home in Portswood, Southampton, on March 14.
The three detectives, led by Detective Superintendent Alan Betts,
are due to travel to Kohli's hometown of Chandigarh in the state
of Punjab.
Jagjit Singh said his son hasn't contacted him or his brothers
after he left the home saying he was being implicated in the case.
He didn't say what date Kohli left. "I feel he should join the
investigations," Singh said.
Kohli's mother has been in a coma since December 2002 after she
fell from a moving bus.
"I feel sorry for my son that he cannot be near his mother in
her illness, but in a way I feel that it is better that my wife
doesn't know what is happening to her son." added Jagjit Singh.
17 March 2003
who: A-level student Hannah Foster
what: Murdered on five-minute walk home after night out
where: Southampton
when: Friday night
snippet: A walker found Hannah's fully-clothed body in
undergrowth about three miles from her home yesterday, reports
The Telegraph. "Last night almost 100 officers were working
on Operation Springfield, the search for her killer, as girls
and young women in the Southampton area were warned not to venture
out alone at night."
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