FBI hikes reward amount to USD 1 million for information on Indian national wanted for killing wife

New York: The FBI is now offering a reward of up to USD 1 million, significantly increasing it from the previous amount of USD 250,000, for information leading to the arrest of an Indian national wanted for allegedly killing his wife in 2015.

Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel, 35, was last known to be in the Newark, New Jersey, area. He is wanted for allegedly killing his wife, Palak Patel, by striking her multiple times with an object while they were both working at a doughnut shop in Hanover, Maryland on April 12, 2015.

Patel is on the FBI's list of "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" and the federal agency announced on Tuesday that it is now offering a reward of up to USD 1 million for information leading to his arrest. Initially, the FBI had offered a USD 100,000 reward for information about Patel, later increasing the amount to USD 250,000.

Patel has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and dangerous weapon with an intent to injure.

A federal arrest warrant was issued in the United States District Court, District of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, on April 20, 2015, after Patel was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

According to a 2017 FBI press release, Patel and his wife both worked the night shift at the doughnut shop, owned by a relative of his.

Investigators believe Patel killed his wife, who was 21 at the time, in a back room of the shop just before midnight on April 12, 2015. Patel allegedly stabbed his wife multiple times and fled by a rear door.

After leaving the doughnut shop, Patel walked across the street to the apartment he shared with his wife, retrieved a few items and some cash, and then hailed a taxi. The cab driver took him to a hotel in New Jersey, near the Newark Liberty International Airport. He checked in about 3 am with no bags, just the clothes on his back. He checked out around 10 am and took a hotel shuttle to the Newark Penn station. That was the last anyone has seen of him, the FBI said.

The press release warns that Patel should be considered "armed and extremely dangerous".

According to the FBI, investigators theorise that Palak Patel wanted to return to India -- their visas had expired the month before -- and her husband was against the idea. "The best guess is that he did not want her to leave," said Special Agent Jonathan Shaffer, who was investigating the case from the FBI's Baltimore Division.

"It is possible that he thought he would be disgraced by her leaving and going back to India." Although the motive remains unclear, Shaffer had noted that after the crime, Patel's "actions show a very cool and calculated mentality about escaping the scene and fleeing the area".

After the killing, a customer who entered the shop realised something was wrong when no one came to take his order. He alerted a police officer, who discovered Palak Patel's body. "It was horrific what had been done to this young woman," Shaffer said.

Realising that Patel was an international flight risk, local police requested FBI assistance and several days after the killing, a federal arrest warrant was issued charging Patel with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Investigators believe that Patel could be with distant relatives in the US or that he could have fled to Canada.

"Or he could have travelled through Canada back to India," Shaffer said.

"Those are among the plausible options we are exploring," according to a press release issued in 2017.