THE parents of murdered teenager Hannah Foster will today fly out to India to help police track down the prime suspect in their daughter's murder.

It is the first time Trevor and Hilary Foster have travelled to the Punjab region where the man wanted in connection with Hannah's death is believed to be in hiding.

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli fled to India two days after Hannah's body was found in March 2003.

During their 12-day trip, Hannah's parents will make appeals for information about Kohli's whereabouts at two press conferences.

The first will be held on Tuesday at a press club in Delhi at midday Indian time (6.30am British time) and the second will take place at another press club in Chandigarh on Wednesday at 11am Indian time (5.30am).

During their stay the couple will also meet members of the British High Commission and officers from the Punjab Police. The times of these meetings will only be arranged once Mr and Mrs Foster arrive in the Punjab.

Det Supt Alan Betts, leading the murder investigation, and family liaison officer DC Morag Scott, will accompany the couple from Portswood, who also plan to set up a confidential telephone hotline in Hampshire and India for information about Kohli. Hampshire Police spokeswoman Lucy Dibden said: "We are very pleased to be able to facilitate this visit for Mr and Mrs Foster.

"We hope it will further raise the profile of the hunt for the main suspect in the Punjab."

In an interview with the Daily Echo Hannah's parents said they would find the trip difficult but felt it was something they had to do.

The trip comes five months after Home Secretary David Blunkett made a public appeal in India for help in the hunt for Kohli, a father of two formerly of Broadlands Road, Swaythling.

He remains at large despite a reward of five million rupees or about £70,000 - which is more than a skilled Indian worker could earn in two lifetimes - being offered for information.

Hannah, 17, a student at Barton Peveril College, was raped and strangled after walking home from a night out with friends on the evening of March 14.

Her body was discovered two days later in Allington Lane, West End, several miles from her home.