Hannah detectives meet Indian police

Hannah 's body was found two days after she disappeared on 14 march

Detectives have arrived in New Delhi to help trace the prime suspect in the murder of Southampton teenager Hannah Foster.

The team of three Hampshire officers, led by Detective Superintendent Alan Betts, is hoping to assist the Indian authorities in getting the suspect back to the UK.

The 35-year-old man fled to India on 18 March, four days after 17-year-old Hannah disappeared from near her home in Portswood, Southampton.

It emerged the suspect stayed with his family in north India for 10 days after fleeing Britain.

Brother questioned

His brother, a serving Indian police officer, will be questioned as part of the inquiry, which involves Indian police in the Punjab, Interpol and officers from the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), based in Delhi.

The British officers do not have legal powers to conduct inquiries while in the country but will help Indian officers with their knowledge of the case.

It is expected the team, which includes a Punjabi-speaking detective, will only stay in the country for one week.

They are meeting representatives of the British High Commission on Thursday.

Mr Betts defended the time it took Hampshire Police to alert Indian authorities to the man.

He said: "We received a phone call mid-afternoon on 27 March which flagged the existence of this man to us.

Arrest warrant

"By that evening, we had raised his status as a suspect and circulated him as a wanted person via the Police National Computer and issued an All Ports Warning.

"It then transpired he had left the country nine days previous to that, four days after the abduction of Hannah," he said.

Evidence was then submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to obtain their support for extradition proceedings and an arrest warrant obtained on 3 April.

"We had completed all our necessary paperwork and procedures within seven days of the suspect first coming to our attention.

"This process can ordinarily take months."