DETECTIVES investigating the murder of Hampshire student Hannah Foster were returning to Britain today as the net closed in on their prime suspect in India.

The team of three Hampshire police officers has spent nearly two weeks helping to cut through red tape in India so that local police can track down and arrest Maninder Pal Singh Kohli.

As reported in the Daily Echo, the father-of-two has been identified as the prime suspect for the rape and murder of 17-year-old Hannah, who disappeared after a night out in Southampton in March.

Delivery driver Kohli, 35, formerly of Broadlands Road, Swaythling, left the UK two days after Hannah's body was found in undergrowth in Allington Lane, West End.

He is believed to have spent ten days with his family near the city of Chandigarh before going on the run in the Punjab after receiving a telephone call from England.

Three Hampshire officers working on the murder hunt, codenamed Operation Springfield, flew out to India on April 30 to liaise with Interpol, the British High Commission and local police.

The team, led by Det Supt Alan Betts, has been working closely with detectives from the Central Bureau of Investigation in New Delhi - the Indian equivalent of the FBI. Now the Hampshire officers are returning to Britain, confident that their counterparts in India will be able to locate and arrest the prime suspect on their behalf.

Once Kohli has been taken into custody, at least one Hampshire officer will have to return to Delhi for extradition proceedings. Officers from Hampshire will also need to escort him back to the UK.

Last night Det Supt Betts said: "I am very buoyed at the moment; we have achieved mountains. There has been quite a bit of red tape to get through but the authorities have really pushed the paperwork through. We have impressed upon the police just how serious the case is, and are continuing to swap intelligence. I am very pleased with the action they are taking."

The murder hunt was launched after Hannah's strangled body was found on March 16.