India is in contact with US authorities over the case of Indian scholar Varun Batchigari, who was apprehended in Germany after being accused of killing his girlfriend in Arizona, the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) mentioned on Tuesday.
“We stay in contact with the US authorities on this explicit matter to establish extra particulars relating to the case,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal mentioned on the weekly press briefing.
The remarks got here after Batchigari, 20, was arrested in Germany for allegedly strangling his girlfriend, Julissa Rubi Salazar, to loss of life in Tucson, Arizona, and later fleeing the US to evade arrest.
Jaiswal mentioned Indian authorities had been knowledgeable after the intense crime was allegedly dedicated and that the knowledge was subsequently conveyed to the related regulation enforcement authorities in India.
“[The] Indian scholar was apprehended in Germany. We had been knowledgeable about this explicit Indian nationwide, who had dedicated, or was alleged to have dedicated, a severe crime within the state of Arizona,” he mentioned.
In keeping with the Tucson Police Division, 19-year-old Salazar was discovered lifeless with indicators of trauma at an condo in Tucson on August 6 after relations requested a welfare examine. Following an investigation, police recognized Batchigari, described as Salazar’s boyfriend, because the suspect.
Police mentioned Batchigari travelled to Tucson Worldwide Airport the identical day and boarded a flight to Germany, with plans to proceed his journey to India.
US authorities subsequently obtained an arrest warrant charging him with first-degree homicide and kidnapping. The Tucson Police Division mentioned he was taken into custody in Germany upon arrival, stopping him from persevering with his journey.
The operation concerned the Tucson Police Division, the FBI’s Tucson workplace, its Authorized Attaché workplace in Berlin, US Customs and Border Safety, Homeland Safety Investigations, the US Marshals Service and German police.
Batchigari is at present awaiting extradition to the US, the place he’s anticipated to be booked on the Pima County Grownup Detention Advanced on the excellent warrant, based on the Tucson Police Division.
The MEA spokesperson’s remarks indicated that Indian authorities had been monitoring the case by means of regulation enforcement and diplomatic channels and searching for additional particulars from the US aspect.
