Hannah police fly to India

Hannah was last seen after a night out in Southampton

A team of detectives investigating the abduction and murder of Southampton teenager Hannah Foster are flying to India to help local police trace their main suspect.

The team, led by Detective Superintendent Alan Betts and including a Punjabi-speaking officer, will be liasing with Indian police in the Punjab as well as with Interpol.

The officers are expected to stay in the country for a week.

The team does not have the legal power to conduct inquiries, but will help local officers with their knowledge of the inquiry.

Detective Superintendent Betts said: "The purpose of the visit is to brief our Indian colleagues as fully as possible and to identify if there are any inquiries that we can undertake in the UK which may assist in their search for the suspect."

Warrant issued

Seveteen-year-old Hannah's body was discovered in undergrowth in West End, Southampton, two days after she dissappeared on 14 March near her home in Portswood.

She had been on a night out with friends in the city's Bevois Valley.

The 35-year-old man police are hunting in connection with Hannah's murder fled to India on 18 March.

Hampshire Police have still not officially released his name, but a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Wife arrested

A force spokesman said: "At this stage we cannot provide further details of the nature of the inquiries being undertaken in the Punjab".

The man's wife was arrested earlier in the month but later released on police bail.

The married couple live at an address a few hundred metres from Hannah's home.

During the early stages of the inquiry, detectives issued appeals to trace an Asian man who had talked to Hannah on two occasions close to her home and had called her by her name.