UK couple escaped extradition to India, now face charge of exporting 550 kg cocaine to Sydney

Kaval Raizada, 35, and Arti Dhir, 58, outside the Westminster Magistrates' Court in July 2019. The Indian-origin couple was arrested in June 2021 after authorities in Australia seized cocaine at Sydney airport which was shipped from Heathrow. (File photo by Danish Khan)

A London-based couple that escaped extradition to India on charges of ordering the murder of an orphan they adopted in Gujarat due to a technicality, are now awaiting trial on charges of exporting 550 kilograms of cocaine to Sydney. In the first instance, Kaval Raizada, 35, and Arti Dhir, 58, make for an unlikely couple, given the difference in age and background. But on October 30, 2023, they will appear together at Southwark crown court, just like they did between 2017 and 2019 at Westminster magistrates’ court. This will be the second run-in with the law for the couple after they just about managed to wriggle out from being extradited to India.

On June 21, 2021, the couple was arrested from their home in Hanwell, London, after authorities in Australia seized cocaine at Sydney airport which was shipped from Heathrow. A gold bullion worth £250,000 and keys to a safe deposit box containing £60,000 cash were seized. “The defendants have both been charged with one count of exporting cocaine to Australia and 12 counts of money laundering,” a National Crime Agency (NCA) spokesperson confirmed. Both remain in custody and will be produced on October 30, when the trial is set to begin at Southwark Crown Court.

On Friday (September 29, 2023), His Honour Judge Edward Connell at the Southwark crown court presided over a pre-trial review when counsels representing both the defendants and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were present. The defendants were due to appear in court, but didn’t arrive because of procedural issues.

“I would like to reserve the right to cross-examine NCA officers,” said Chris Meredith, the barrister representing Raizada. He told the court that “no connection has been established” between his client and “those arrested in Australia”. Meredith also sought further disclosure of documents by the NCA to prepare for the trial.

“The difficulty is we are a month away from trial and these disclosure requests have come very late in the day. A lot of work, time and money will go into this,” said Hugh French, who is being instructed by the CPS along with junior Phoebe Bragg. French told the court that they have not been able to access electronic devices belonging to the defendants as they have not been provided with the passcodes. “We have asked for access to digital devices but we haven’t been given that,” French told the judge. “Since both the defendants are charged with criminal offences there is no duty upon any defendant to help the prosecution,” said Meredith.

While at this stage Dhir and Raizada have been charged by the NCA and are in custody, it will be the verdict after the trial that will determine their guilt or innocence. As stated earlier, this is not the first time they face a serious charge.

The extradition case

Dhir and Raizada are alleged to have adopted an 11-year-old boy Gopal Sejani, an orphan, who lived with his sister and her husband Harsukhbhai Kardani in a small village in Gujarat. Raizada's father lived in the same village as Gopal and had helped the couple in the adoption in 2015. Dhir and Raizada had taken a wealth builder policy which entailed a life insurance of 10 times the annual premium in the event of Gopal's death.

On February 8, 2017, Gopal along with Kardani travelled to Rajkot from their village to prepare the visa papers for the UK. When they were returning in a car along with one Nitin Mund, two men on a motorbike attacked Gopal and Kardani. Gopal died on February 11, while Kardani succumbed on February 17, but before that made two statements to the local police.

The police arrested Mund who implicated Dhir and Raizada, following which financial trails between the London couple and Mund were uncovered. The courts in London were also told that the couple did not make any arrangements for the boy's funeral.

The couple was arrested in June 2017 after India requested their extradition, following which hearings began at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court. In July 2019, the then chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot discharged the couple even though she agreed that a prima facie case had been successfully made against the couple.

That is because the defence had argued that if they were convicted in India, they would get life imprisonment with no possibility of a review which would violate their human rights and hence extradition should not take place. India had to give an assurance that the couple would be considered for parole, but that assurance was received by the court just 45 minutes before the judgment was to be delivered. The chief magistrate did not consider the assurance saying that it came much beyond the set deadline.

However, she also pointed out in her judgment that as planning for the crime was done in London, the couple could also face charges by the police in the UK. The CPS filed an appeal, but in February 2020 the high court in London upheld the couple’s discharge ruling that the lower court was correct in barring their extradition. The couple were now free.

Toby Cadman, who was the barrister representing India in the extradition case against Dhir and Raizada, told me: “Without wishing to prejudice the ongoing criminal proceedings that have only just begun, I can only say that they face serious allegations and they are to stand trial in the UK. The matters in India remain pending and attempts continue to seek their extradition to stand trial following the previous unsuccessful attempt to extradite the couple.”

Raizada came to the UK as a student and lived as a tenant in Dhir’s house in Hanwell. They later got married in 2013 and worked in the warehouse of Worldwide Freight Services in Heathrow. It is reported that they were dismissed from service due to a breach of contract in 2016.