WASHINGTON – An Indo-American accused of murdering his wife, also from India, in 2015 is to be added on Tuesday to the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list.
The investigating agency also announced a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel’s arrest.
He is accused of murdering his wife Palak Patel at a Dunkin Donuts outlet, where they both worked, in April 2015 in Hanover in Maryland. He had struck her multiple times with an object.
The FBI has said Patel was last seen at a hotel in Newark, New Jersey, on April 13, 2015. They believe he had not left the country legally — his visa expired just a month before the murder.
“The extremely violent nature of the crimes allegedly committed by Bhadreshkumar Patel earned him a place on the FBI’s Top Ten list,” Gordon B. Johnson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore Office, told WBALTV11, a local news channel.
“The valuable assistance of the public cannot be overstated, as shown by the ongoing success locating fugitives placed on the Top 10 list. The ongoing efforts of our investigators, coupled with the public’s assistance, will lead to the capture of Bhadreshkumar Patel. We will never forget, and will not rest until he is located, captured and brought to justice.”
Police have said they believe Palak Patel had wanted to return to India, but her husband didn’t. Both their visas had expired the month before.
The FBI suspects Patel could be with relatives in the US or may have fled to Canada to make his way back to India.
“Palak Patel was murdered in a depraved act of domestic violence,” Tim Altomare, police chief of Anne Arundel county, has said in a statement.
“Numerous and overwhelming efforts have been made in attempts to locate Bhadreshkumar and none of the efforts to date have been met with success.”
