- Monday, June 05, 2023
By: Pramod Thomas
A man accused of murdering a woman on a remote Queensland beach in 2018 has been extradited to Australia from India, according to reports.
Rajwinder Singh, 38, the suspected killer of Toyah Cordingley, 24, arrived at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday (1) from Delhi accompanied by detectives, the BBC reported.
Last November, the Delhi Police arrested Singh after a joint operation of CBI, Interpol and a special cell with intelligence inputs. He was detained after officers received a tip-off that he was travelling to Delhi for a medical appointment.
The Australian Police had offered 1 million Australian dollars (around £560,000) to exchange information about the accused.
According to reports, Indian police handed him over to Australian officers at Delhi’s international airport on Tuesday (28) night.
The BBC reported that Singh will appear in court in Melbourne, before being moved to Queensland state.
Later this week, he will face a magistrate in Queensland before being remanded in custody.
Detectives said that Cordingley had gone to Wangetti beach to walk her dog on 21 October 2018, but never came back. Her body was discovered by her father the next day at the beach, just north of Cairns, half buried in sand dunes.
Australian authorities said that the victim was killed in a ‘frenzied and brutal’ attack. Singh, who was originally from Buttar Kalan, Punjab, had been living in Innisfail at the time of the incident, a town about two hours from the crime scene.
Police said that Singh, a nurse by profession, left behind his job, wife and their three children when he fled Australia hours after Cordingley’s body was discovered. He was pictured at Sydney’s international airport.
According to reports, he fled Australia in the hours after the killing and stayed in Punjab for four years, avoiding arrest.
Queensland Police had set up a WhatsApp link to receive tips about Singh directly. Also, the Australian government sought an extradition order in March 2021 which was granted last year.
