Police committed to bringing PC Beshenivsky murder suspect back to UK

Six men are serving minimum 35-year jail sentences for PC Sharon Beshenivsky's murder in Morley Street, in the west end of Bradford city centre, on November 18, 2005.

And British police have spent the past three years trying to extradite Piran Ditta Khan, 73, who had allegedly recruited men to rob the travel agency in the bungled raid.

In an update on the situation, West Yorkshire Police said it was continuing to "vigorously pursue" his extradition through all the relevant legal channels.

After many years of work on the case, police in West Yorkshire have been buoyed by the agreement by authorities in Pakistan that a Prima Facie case exists.

PC Beshenivsky's widower Paul, 60, said he'd be "happy" if Khan - who was detained in Islamabad in January 2020 - stayed in a jail cell in Pakistan.

Paul Beshenivsky

He said: “From my point of view, I’m happy for him to rot in jail.

"If they put him in prison here, what's going to happen? It's going to cost £600 a day to keep him in prison. I just don't see the logic in that.

“I’d rather they spent that £600 on old people who can’t pay their gas and electric, rather than sticking him in a prison over here. What’s it going to achieve?

"I think realistically if he’s in a prison in Pakistan, I think he’s probably better off staying in a prison in Pakistan.

"But I can see the police's point of view. They want to put an end to it, for themselves as well as me."

PC Beshenivsky was the seventh UK policewoman to die in the line of duty, which tragically came on her youngest daughter Lydia's fourth birthday.

She was shot in the chest with a sub machine gun on November 18, 2005, while responding to the holdup at travel firm Universal Express.

Six men were jailed for their part in the robbery and her killing. Police put a £20,000 bounty on Khan's head in 2009.

He had reportedly leading a “millionaire lifestyle” in the country's capital before being detained.

Police raised hopes that Khan's extradition proceedings were ramping up last December, but Paul blamed "political" wrangling for why the former bouncer remained in Pakistan.

He went on: "My view is that to release one person, they want ten people releasing. That's my view on it, really. In fairness, they should comply, really, with law.

“I’m making an assumption here now, if the police had done probably what the Pakistani government wanted 15 years ago, they’d probably got him back 15 years ago.

“I think it’s all just politics. I just think it’s all just a big game, really.”

Paul, who has since remarried, said specialist officers from West Yorkshire Police told him on December 16 last year that there had been developments with the case.

But since then he hasn't heard anything and believes his family should have got "closure" at least 15 years ago.

He said: “When we were on holiday, they got in touch with my son.

“And they said, ‘It’s all looking good.’ Well, we are two months down the road again and what’s looking good? It’s just sort of died a death again.

“They said they were in the process of bringing him back. That’s about all I have heard.

“It’s difficult, but it’s gone on that long that you get accustomed to it.

"I just keep hearing stuff. I really should have got closure in 2006 or 2007. It’s 2023 and it’s still going on."

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: “We remain firmly committed to bringing Piran Ditta Khan back to the UK to stand trial as the last remaining suspect for the murder of our colleague, PC Sharon Beshenivsky, on 18th November 2005, during a robbery in which her colleague PC Teresa Milburn was also seriously injured.

“The agreement by authorities in Pakistan that a Prima Facie case exists is a significant step forward and testament to years of hard work by the investigation team and authorities abroad.

“We will continue to vigorously pursue Piran Ditta Khan’s extradition through all the relevant legal channels, in the hope of returning him to the UK as soon as possible.”

A spokesperson for the Pakistan High Commission in London said: "Extradition of criminals between the UK and Pakistan is carried out after meeting legal and judicial requirements.

"It is essentially a judicial process, not a political one. Further information in this regard can be obtained from the UK’s Home Office."