THE parents of Hannah Foster will fly home this morning after their visit to India resulted in the arrest of the prime suspect in their daughter's murder inquiry.

When Hilary and Trevor Foster, pictured, left for India eleven days ago Maninder Pal Singh Kohli was still at large, having been on the run for 16 months.

But now, less than two weeks later, Kohli is in custody after a massive media appeal for information was sparked by the couple's decision to visit his homeland where he was believed to have been hiding out.

Kohli flew to India two days after 17-year-old Hannah's body was found on a roadside in West End near Southampton. She was abducted on March 14 after a night out with friends.

A post-mortem revealed she had been raped and strangled.

The Fosters have admitted that the success of their trip has far exceeded anything they could ever have imagined.

"We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Indian people. Not only have they come forward to facilitate the arrest but they have taken Hilary and I to their hearts in the short time we have been here," said Mr Foster.

The couple will not be travelling home with Det Supt Alan Betts who accompanied them on their trip to India.

He is staying on in the country to continue arranging the extradition request for Kohli to be returned to the UK to face trial.

As previously reported he was spotted by residents in the hilltop village of Kalimpong where he had been hiding out under a different name and with a new wife.

Kohli, was is already married and has two children, was caught at a bus stop in the

village last Thursday and has been remanded in judicial custody while the authorities decide how to proceed with the extradition process.

The Foster's are due to touch down at Heathrow this afternoon.