Indian murder suspect arrested days after Australia put bounty on his head

The prime suspect in the murder of a woman on an Australian beach four years ago has been arrested in New Delhi three weeks after he was targeted with $677,000 reward (1 million Australian dollars). 

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said Rajwinder Singh had been arrested on Friday following Australia’s extradition request to India.

“This matter is a high priority for the Australian government and Australian agencies continue to work closely with Indian authorities to pursue Mr. Singh’s extradition to Australia, to enable him to face justice,” Dreyfus said in a statement.

Indian national Singh, 38, flew from Sydney to his homeland the day after 24-year-old Australian Toyah Cordingley’s body was found on the Queensland state coast on October 22, 2018.

Australia had applied for Singh’s extradition for murder in March last year but he could not be found.

Largest reward in the state’s history

The Queensland government on November 3 offered the largest reward in the state’s history for information about Singh.

The reward was unique in that it did not seek a clue that solves a crime and leads to a successful prosecution. Instead, the money is offered for information that leads only to a suspect’s location and arrest.

Indian police arrested Singh on the same day they received information about his whereabouts, Australian Federal Police said in a statement.

Avoiding arrest

Singh was “believed to be avoiding apprehension in the Punjab region in India since traveling to the country” in 2018, Australian police said.

Singh was employed as a nurse at Innisfail, a town south of the major city of Cairns, when Cordingley was murdered on Wangetti Beach, on October 21, 2018. She had gone to the beach to walk her dog.

The Indian Embassy in Australia could not immediately comment on the case.

READ MORE: Australian police offer $633,000 reward for Indian murder suspect