New Delhi:
With a reward of $1 million on any information on him, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has ramped up the search for Gujarat native Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel, wanted for his wife’s murder in the US.
35-year-old Bhadresh, among FBI’s top 10 Most Wanted, was born in Gujarat’s Viramgam on May 15, 1990. He moved to the US and started working there.
On April 12, 2015, then 26-year-old Bhadresh and his wife Palak Patel were working during the night shift at a doughnut shop in Maryland owned by his relative when he attacked her. He allegedly struck her multiple times with a heavy object, instantly killing her. Such was the severity of the attack that Palak didn’t get a chance to escape.
Investigators believe Bhadresh killed Palak in the back room of the shop and then ran from the scene. He went to their apartment, collected some items and cash and hailed a taxi to a hotel in New Jersey. He checked in at 3 am with no bags and checked out seven hours later. He was last seen in New Jersey’s Newark Penn station several years ago.
A court in the US state of Maryland has issued warrants against the accused on charges including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, assault with a dangerous weapon and fleeing to avoid prosecution.
Investigators believe that Bhadresh could be with distant relatives in the US or that he could have fled to Canada. “Or he could have travelled through Canada back to India,” Special Agent Jonathan Shaffer said.
The latest $1 million (or over Rs 9 crore) reward on information on Bhadresh’s whereabouts was increased from an earlier $250,000.
Possible Motive
Investigators theorise that Palak wanted to return to India as their their visas had expired the month before, but Bhadresh was against the idea. Shaffer said Patel’s “actions show a very cool and calculated mentality about escaping the scene and fleeing the area”.
