By IANS,
New Delhi : A Non-resident Indian accused of murdering his wife in the US last year could be extradited, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informing a city court Tuesday that it has enough evidence against him.
The Indian government had received a request from US authorities for the extradition of Avtar Singh Grewal after his arrest here last year.
M.R. Qureshi, under secretary with MEA, told the court: “It is incorrect to suggest that there is no material to suggest that the fugitive is connected with the crime for which the extradition is being sought.”
Recording his testimony as the first prosecution witness, the MEA official rubbished Grewal’s allegations that extradition proceedings had been initiated in a “mechanical” manner without examining the value as evidence of documents provided by the US.
Grewal, 32, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on arrival at the Delhi airport here on March 31 last year following a ‘look-out circular’ issued against him by the Interpol on the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The fugitive, who was then working as manager with a firm in Vancouver in Canada, travelled to Phoenix in USA to meet his estranged wife Navneet Kaur and flew out of that country on a one-way ticket, allegedly after killing her on March 29.
Kaur, the eldest daughter of an Uttaranchal cadre retired IPS officer Ratan Singh, was not on good terms with Grewal after their marriage in October 2005. They were living separately.
She had reportedly sought a divorce from Grewal, who refused and went to meet her.
The FBI, in its initial probe, considered various incriminating evidence including the fact that Grewal was seen outside the victim’s house on the day of the murder. The FBI got the look-out circular issued against him in view of the evidence in hand.