Hannah suspect made new life on the run

British authorities today began extradition proceedings against the prime suspect in the murder of Hannah Foster as details emerged of his new life on the run.

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli had shaved off his long hair, discarded his Sikh turban and taken the name Mike Dennis before getting a job as a Red Cross charity worker.

Despite having a wife and two children at home in Southampton, he had also married the daughter of a colleague two weeks ago.

Kohli, 35, who fled England two days after 17-year-old Hannah's body was found in March last year, was arrested in Kalimpong, India, after locals recognised him from newspaper photographs. Police believe he was about to flee across the nearby border into Nepal as the hunt for him intensified.

His arrest came days after Hannah's parents arrived in the country to help with the search. They reacted to the news with tears and shouts of: "We've got him". Darjeeling-police chief Rajiv Mishra said that Kohli had already admitted throwing Hannah's body from his van but denied killing or sexually assaulting her.

The sandwich delivery driver is claiming that he found the teenager's body dumped in his van.

" The accused has admitted to being at the place of the crime," said Mr Mishra. "But he has not admitted to the crime and he has not explained how the body got there."

Hannah's parents, Trevor and Hilary Foster, are in India with officers-from Hampshire Police.

Mr Foster said: "I never expected anything to happen this quickly after we came here. We are absolutely delighted. This is the best result we could have possibly hoped for while we are over here."

His wife added: "We are just totally overwhelmed. During the last five days we have been up and down on an emotional roller coaster."

Hannah's body was discovered by the side of a country lane near Southampton on 16 March, two days after she disappeared. She was found half a mile from her home in the Portswood district of the city after a night out with friends. She had earlier complained to friends that she was being stalked by an Asian man.

Kohli, who lived nearby, quickly fled Britain on a one-way ticket to his family home in Chandigarh. After a tip-off from a relative in Southampton he moved again and took a series of low-paid jobs in Mysore, Bangalore and Bombay before turning up in Darjeeling seven months ago.

Two months ago he moved again to Kalimpong, where he got a job with the Red Cross as a paid volunteer on a hepatitis B awareness programme.

It was there that he met and quickly married Bharti Das, a colleague's daughter, who was with him when he was arrested.

Hannah was described as a promising student who had gained places at university to study medicine. A post mortem examination found that she had been raped and strangled.