Brit couple who ‘arranged murder of adopted son, 11, in India for £150,000 life insurance payout’ fight extradition
A BRITISH couple accused of plotting the murder of their adopted son to grab a £150,000 insurance payout are fighting moves to be hauled to India to face justice.
Airport worker Arti Dhir, 55, and Kaval Raijada, 30, deny planning the abduction and fatal stabbing of tragic orphan Gopal Sejani in 2017.
Britain has rejected requests to extradite the couple to face trial in India on human rights grounds but the Indian government has now been granted leave to appeal.
The husband and wife, from Hanwell, West London adopted 11-year-old Gopal as their son after travelling to Keshod in Gujarat in 2015.
Indian authorities say they placed an advert in a local newspaper, promising they would take a child to live a better life in London if their application was successful.
The couple then met poverty-stricken farm boy Gopal who was living with his older sister and her husband, Harsukh Kardani.
The pair - who were his legal guardians - agreed to the adoption and began preparing adoption papers.
But Indian police claim Dhir and Raijada - who had no children of their own - took in the youngster after hatching an unspeakably evil plan.
Cops say Dhir took out a £150,000 insurance policy in Gopal's which would would pay out after 10 years - or in the event of his death.
She was alleged to have paid two premiums of £15,000 soon after the adoption, according to legal documents.
Superintendent Saurab Singh of Junagadh Police, in Gujarat, said: "After a few days she took out an insurance policy in his name.
"It was a huge amount and she paid two premiums, knowing very well that in the event of Gopal's death, she would be paid 10 times the insured amount."
The couple returned home to London without Gopal - who never set foot in the UK and stayed in Gujarat while visa papers were arranged for him.
Then on February 8, 2017 the lad was abducted by two men on motorbikes, stabbed and left at the roadside.
His brother-in-law, Mr Kardani was also attacked as he tried to defend the boy and both died from their wounds in hospital later that month.
Indian authorities say two previous attempts had been made against the boy's life, but both failed.
The insurance policy never paid out and police in India later arrested a suspect said to be a friend of the couple who spent time with them as a student in London.
Three more men allegedly connected with the double murder have also been arrested in India and inquiries are continuing.
Ms Dhir - an air freight representative for Worldwide Flight Services, at Heathrow - and Mr Raijada now face six charges in India, including conspiracy to murder and kidnapping.
They were arrested in the UK in June 2017 after a request from the Indian government but a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court refused their extradition on human rights grounds.
Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot ruled there was enough evidence to justify their extradition as there was a "circumstantial prima facie case.”
But the move was blocked because the penalty for double murder in Gujarat is life in prison without parole - and breached their human rights because a lesser term would be imposed in the UK.
She added that extraditing the paid would and subjecting them to a sentence without parole would be "inhuman and degrading".
The Indian authorities have been granted an appeal, which is expected to be heard in the new year.
Outside the couple's west London home Ms Dhir ignored questions about the case and why she was refusing to travel to India to stand trial.
Both Dhir and Raijada deny the allegations. According to the court papers, they say there is "no prima facie case against them" and they remain on bail pending an appeal.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Interpol international crimefighters put Dhir and Raijada on a “red notice” watch list after being alerted by Indian authorities.
Superintendent Singh added: "We are trying our best. This is a very serious offence that has taken place in India.
"We want the two accused to be brought here to face trial in an Indian court as per the Indian laws, and for this we are trying our best to assist the UK court."