 "Not just Mallya: Paedophiles, smugglers on India's extradition list given to UK")
While some prominent names like Vijay Mallya, Hans Christian Michel and Samir Ali feature in the list of 57 people India wants to be extradited for various crimes from the UK, there are others who have been evading justice in India. Some of the other criminals India wants to be extradited from the UK include those convicted of paedophilia, drug offences and stealing India’s antiquities. Not only are these names being given for facilitating their extradition but also to seek further information on them.
Among those are two alleged paedophiles, Andrew Varley and Paul Meekin. Varley had allegedly molested children at an orphanage run by foreigners in Panjim in the state of Goa for many years in the early 1990s. He fled India soon after the CBI registered a case against him in July 1995. The CBI had alleged that Varley had changed his name to Martin Ashley and had tracked him down as residing at Palace Road in London. The agency could not make much progress despite sending teams to the UK. Although the UK government had cleared his extradition, a local court in Westminster struck it down in 2014 after ruling that Varley was suffering from dementia. An appeal was made in the higher courts in the UK but no progress has been made so far.
Indian authorities had approached the Interpol for another British paedophile, Paul Meekin in 2014 as they were unable to trace him after he fled from Bengaluru. The Interpol still hasn’t been able to trace Meekin and he was reported to have fled to Kuwait.
Also on the list is Hanif Tiger, a close aide of criminal Dawood Ibrahim. Tiger is accused of being behind the Surat bomb blasts in 1993 that reportedly killed one and left much more injured. Tiger has lost his extradition battle in UK courts in 2013 and had then appealed to the UK home secretary. Interestingly, Theresa May held the position then. Now as the PM, she could well give the green signal for Tiger extradition to India.
Sources also said that the name of Patrick Charles Bowring figured in the list. He is accused of stealing antiquities from India and smuggling them abroad. Interpol had issued a red corner notice against him. In the 1990s, Bowring was the director in a UK based company called Arts Development (India) Ltd whose parent company was Sothebys Holding Inc incorporated in the US. The CBI had alleged that Bowring had illegally smuggled Indian antiquities for auction abroad. Bowring still lives in the UK running his business in London. Information on him is being sought under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.