MUMBAI: Over a decade after he fled the country, Vipul Patel, an accused in the 2003 murder of a US based model, was extradited from Prague in Czech Republic. A police team from the Mira-Bhayander Vasai-Virar commissionerate returned with him on Friday. He will be produced before the Bombay high court on Saturday.
Patel (46), who hails from Gujarat, and his US citizen friend Pragnesh Desai (49) were arrested by Kashimira police for the murder of Leona Swinderski (33), whose body was found on February 8, 2003. After their acquittal, the state had moved HC. In March 2021, a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against the duo who skipped hearings. Desai was arrested, but Patel was found to have fled to the UK. Patel was in prison at Prague since his arrest last November after a red-corner notice was issued against him. “After lots of efforts, documentation and correspondence since more than a year, we brought the murder accused back to India,” said DCP Amit Kale, who led the extradition team, with officers Sanjay Hazare, Pramod Badak and Yogesh Kale. —Sandhya Nair