Indian man Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel on FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list, carries Rs 2.1 crore reward

Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel, a 34-year-old Indian national, is on Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s ten most wanted fugitives list. Patel is wanted for allegedly killing his wife in Maryland in April 2015.

The federal agency has offered a reward of USD 250,000 (Rs 2.16 crore apporx) for any information leading to Patel’s arrest.

Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel, who was born in Gujarat, worked at a donut shop in Maryland along with his wife.

In April 2015, Patel struck his wife, Palak, multiple times with an object and killed her while both of them were at work.

Following this, an arrest warrant was issued against him, and he was charged with first degree murder, second degree murder, first degree assault, second degree assault, and dangerous weapon with intent to injure.

Investigators revealed that Palak Patel, 21 at the time, expressed a desire to return to India, a move her husband opposed. Reports indicate that the couple’s visas had expired a month prior to the murder.

“The best guess is that he didn’t want her to leave,” Special Agent Jonathan Shaffer of the FBI’s Baltimore Division said last year when the FBI had included Patel in their most wanted list.

“It’s possible he thought he would be disgraced by her leaving and returning to India,” Shaffer said.

Following the murder, Patel fled the scene, prompting authorities to issue a federal arrest warrant several days later.

The FBI suspects Patel may be hiding with relatives in the US, or he might have escaped to Canada or returned to India. “Those are among the plausible options we are exploring,” Shaffer had said.

Patel continues to be in the federal agency’s most wanted fugitives list.

The FBI on Thursday called Patel “armed and extremely dangerous” and asked public for any information on him.