A 74-year-old man has been extradited to the UK from Pakistan and charged with the murder of a female West Yorkshire police officer who was shot dead during a robbery in 2005, reported British media on Thursday. Piran Ditta Khan arrived in the UK and was taken into custody at a West Yorkshire police station, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. Police officer PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38, was fatally shot while responding to an alarm at a travel agent in Bradford.

She was a mother to three children and two stepchildren, and had only served nine months on the force when she was killed. Her shift partner PC Teresa Millburn was also shot in the same incident, but survived. Piran Ditta Khan has been charged with murder, robbery, two counts of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon.

A spokesperson for the CPS said the charges against Mr Khan were authorised in 2006, leading to the issuing of the extradition warrant. Joanne Jakymec, chief crown prosecutor for the CPS, said: A suspect wanted in connection with the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford in 2005 has been extradited to the UK from Pakistan thanks to the continued hard work of prosecutors in the CPS's extradition and international units.

"Since Piran Ditta Khan was arrested in Pakistan in 2020, our specialist prosecutors have been working closely with our Pakistani partners to complete the legal process in the country so that he could be extradited back to England to face the allegations from almost 20 years ago." Khan has been remanded in custody and is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, April 13.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP