US deports Indian national accused in plot to murder Mahesh Bhatt

New York: An Indian national, wanted in his home country on charges including attempted murder, extortion, theft and possession of illegal firearms, was removed from the US and turned over to Indian authorities, an official statement said Tuesday.

Ubaidullah Abdulrashid Radiowala, 46, also known as Obed Radiowala, is a key accused in the 2014 cases of alleged conspiracy to kill Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt and firing on film-maker Karim Morani.

An Interpol Red Corner notice was also issued on the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2015 after a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Radiowala.

"He was wanted in India on charges of attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, extortion, forgery, cheating, theft, abetment, use and possession of illegal firearms, and transmission of information by using the internet to form an organised crime syndicate," the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a press release.

Radiowala was arrested by the Newark's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in September 2017 from Iselin, New Jersey for illegally staying in the US.

He was later ordered removed to India by an immigration judge, the release said.

Radiowala was held in detention by the ERO Newark, until his removal and handing over to Indian authorities on Monday, following the dismissal of his appeal by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the release said.

"This individual's long list of criminal charges in his home country, including attempted murder, show that he was a danger to the community here in the US," ERO Newark field office director John Tsoukaris said.

A total of 256,085 aliens have been removed or returned in fiscal year 2018 by the ICE, the release said.

The proportion of FY18 removals resulting from ICE arrests increased by nearly 17 per cent over the previous fiscal year, and the number of ICE interior removals in FY18 increased by nearly 14,000 from FY17, it said.

The ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation's immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.