FBI puts Indian who killed wife on its Most Wanted List'

Washington: The FBI on Tuesday added a 26-year-old Indian national on its top 10 "Most Wanted List", two years after he went missing after allegedly killing his wife inside the kitchen of a Dunkin Donuts restaurant in the US.

The FBI offered up to USD 100,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel. The agency warned that Patel, who stabbed his 21-year-old wife Palak Bhadreskumar Patel multiple times with a large knife, should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.

Palak was found beaten to death inside the restaurant kitchen in Hanover, Maryland on April 12, 2015. Both the husband and wife were Dunkin Donuts employees. "The extremely violent nature of the crimes allegedly committed by Bhadreshkumar Patel earned him a place on the FBI's Top Ten List," Gordon B Johnson, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Baltimore Field Office, said in a statement.

The valuable assistance of the public cannot be overstated, as shown by the ongoing success locating fugitives placed on the Top Ten list, the official said.

"The ongoing efforts of our investigators, coupled with the public’s assistance, will lead to the capture of Bhadreshkumar Patel. We will never forget, and will not rest until he is located, captured and brought to justice."

A video released by the FBI shows both Bhadreshkumar and his wife working on the day of her death, walking off screen behind some racks in the kitchen together. He then re-emerges back on camera without his wife, turning off an oven and leaving the scene, The Capital Gazette reported.

Bhadreshkumar's been charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, and a weapons offence in connection with her death.

A federal arrest warrant was issued a week after Palak's death as Bhadreshkumar was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Investigators said he was last seen taking a hotel shuttle to Newark Penn Station in New Jersey on April 13, 2015 around 10 AM.

Police said Bhadreshkumar, originally from Kantrodi Ta Viramgam, Gujarat, India, had a visa to be in the US, but it had expired and there was no indication he was able to legally leave the country, the report said.

Investigators believe that Palak wanted to return to India, though her husband was against the idea. "Palak Patel was murdered in a depraved act of domestic violence," Anne Arundel County police Chief Tim Altomare said in a statement.

"Numerous and overwhelming efforts have been made in attempts to locate Bhadreshkumar and none of the efforts to date have been met with success," the official said.

"In cooperation with the FBI the Anne Arundel County police believe we will certainly locate Bhadreshkumar and provide justice for Palak that her family desperately seeks in order to find closure," the official added.