LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) – A British-based pharmacist wanted in India for allegedly poisoning his ex-wife’s family with arsenic, killing her mother, and trying to hire assassins to kill her father can be extradited to stand trial, a London court ruled on Friday.
Ajith Kumar Mupparapu, 46, is accused of targeting Sirisha Muttavarapu and her family in 2023 after they had separated, killing her mother Uma Maheshwari with arsenic-laced spices.
Mupparapu’s lawyers had argued there was insufficient evidence to establish he was responsible for any arsenic in Muttavarapu’s family’s home and said he could be tortured by the Indian authorities if extradited.
But Judge John Zani ruled Mupparapu could be extradited, saying in a written ruling that the evidence showed at least an arguable case against Mupparapu and that the Indian authorities had given assurances about his treatment in custody.
Mupparapu can appeal against the decision at the High Court. His lawyer did not immediately comment on the ruling.
Indian prosecutors allege that Mupparapu arranged for arsenic-laced chilli powder and salt to be sent to Muttavarapu’s family in Hyderabad, southern India.
Muttavarapu’s relatives then ate meals which had been cooked with the poison as they gathered to celebrate her brother’s wedding in June 2023, with Maheshwari dying the following month.
James Lewis, a lawyer representing Indian prosecutors, said at a hearing in April that the arsenic levels found in their blood and urine were more than 20 times the normal value.
Mupparapu is also alleged to have tried to murder Muttavarapu’s father Hanumantha Rao, by organising a staged road accident, attempting to hire contract killers and conspiring to have him injected with a fatal dose of a muscle relaxant.
His lawyers, however, said there was no direct evidence connecting him to arsenic found at Muttavarapu’s family’s home or proving he was involved in a conspiracy to kill her father.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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