Indian murder accused Jayesh Patel appears in UK court

LONDON: An Indian man wanted in a murder case and around 50 criminal offences appeared before a court here on Wednesday for a remand hearing after his arrest on a provisional extradition warrant earlier this month.

Jaysukh Ranpariya, 41, also known as Jayesh Patel, appeared before the Westminster Magistrates Court via videolink from Belmarsh prison in south-east London and was provided with an interpreter to translate the court proceedings into Hindi.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), appearing on behalf of the Indian authorities, told District Judge Timothy Godfrey that the accused is wanted in India for a -pre-planned conspiracy- to hire a contract killer for Rs 3 crore (USD 4,13,287) for the murder of prosecuting lawyer Kirit Joshi in April 2018.

The court also heard that at the time of Ranpariya's arrest in south London, he was found in possession of 'several fraudulent identity documents and bank cards'.

While he made no application for bail, he said it will be opposing bail on the grounds that he would fail to surrender and that he has no community ties in Britain - where he has been living by himself, as his wife remains in India.

"This case will now come up for a brief call overhearing on April 21, before a hearing on June 17, after which a full extradition hearing will be scheduled," Judge Godfrey said.

A more detailed warrant of charges against Ranpariya will be provided by May 20 and cover his alleged links to organised crime groups in India.

He is contesting his extradition and will remain in judicial custody until the next hearing in the case, when he is again scheduled to appear via a video link.

"Jaysukh Ranpariya of Sutton Plaza, Sutton, appeared in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court following his arrest by detectives from the Met's Extradition Unit," a Metropolitan Police statement said.

"Ranpariya was arrested on Tuesday, 16 March, in Sutton [south London] under an international arrest warrant issued the same day on behalf of the Indian authorities. He is wanted for an offence of conspiracy to murder in India," the statement added.

Earlier, the had confirmed that it had received a request for Ranpariya's extradition to India.

"The UK has received a provisional extradition request from the Indian authorities for Jasysukh Ranpariya, who is wanted to face charges of conspiracy to murder from April 2018. The full request is due to be served by 20 May 2021," a spokesperson said.

Interpol had issued a Red Corner Notice against Ranpariya to alert countries to take him into custody as the Gujarat police sought to trace and arrest the fugitive as part of its inquiries into crimes dating back to 2018.