A city court has upheld that Centre extradite a Bangladeshi national, accused of murdering his wife and two daughters in the UK in 2007, to london to stand trial in the case.
The court recommended extradition of accused Mohammad Abdul Shakur after he voluntarily consented to surrender to face trial in the case. “I hereby recommend to the Union of India to extradite the fugitive criminal Mohammad Abdul Shakur to the requesting state i.e., United Kingdom of Great Britain,” said Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Sudesh Kumar.
The ACMM also referred to the extradition treaty between India and the UK, and said the offences alleged against Shakur were “extraditable”. The order came after the Centre, through advocate Naveen Kumar Matta, forwarded the request received from UK seeking extradition of Shakur. Matta told court that Shakur was wanted in the UK to stand trial on the allegation that he had fled from london after murdering his wife Juli Begum and two daughters at their house in January 2007.
The court, in its order, referred to the statement given by UK’s Metropolitan Police detective sergeant John Simm before the district judge in Westminster in which he had related the entire sequence of events which allegedly led to the death of the woman and her two daughters.
Simm stated that Shakur had married Begum in Bangladesh after which his wife had returned to the UK and a few months later. Shakur also followed her and she sponsored his entry into the country. The police official said their conjugal life was strained and in 2002, Begum called police because of Shakur’s behaviour. Simm had said Shakur wanted Begum to help him become a permanent resident of the UK; even his family members had warned Begum that Shakur would harm her if she did not assist him.
He had also stated that Begum’s sister came to see her on January 9, 2007, but found the house locked. The next day, she called police who broke into the apartment and found the bodies of Begum and her two daughters. Shakur, who was later arrested in Assam, was produced before ACMM Kumar on August 29, this year, in pursuance to a production warrant issued against him during the inquiry proceedings. Shakur told the court that he should be extradited to the UK to stand trial in the case. “I am satisfied that the fugitive criminal made the above statement voluntarily without any pressure after understanding all the consequences,” the court observed.