M A I N   N E W S

Briton held for Mhatre’s murder
T.V. Parasuram

Washington, March 6
Mohammed Aslam, the alleged kidnapper and murderer of Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre in Burmingham, England, in 1984 has been arrested in the US, Immigration officials said today.

The 48-year-old Aslam, a Briton, was first arrested and held in Pennsylvania on immigration charges, but later, by fingerprints, he was identified as the man wanted in the shooting death of Indian Consul in Birmingham Mhatre, said Mike Gilhooly, a spokesman for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The kidnapping of Mhatre 20 years ago was claimed by a group called the Kashmir Liberation Front, which demanded one million pound ransom and the release of several Kashmiri prisoners by the Indian Government. Mhatre’s body was found on a farm three days after his kidnapping. He was shot in the head and chest. — PTI