Who is Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel? The Gujarati Man On FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ List Since 2017

Patel, who was 24 at that time, hit his 21-year-old wife in the face with a kitchen knife and stabbed her several times in the backroom of the shop where they both worked while customers were still there.

New Delhi: In one of the biggest ever manhunt launched, the United State’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is on the lookout for Bhadresh Kumar Patel, an Indian National, hailing from Viramgam in Ahmedabad. Patel has been on the run since 2015 when he allegedly killed his wife, Palak, with a knife inside a Dunkin Donuts coffee shop in Hanover, Maryland state.

Patel, who was 24 at that time, hit his 21-year-old wife in the face with a kitchen knife and stabbed her several times in the backroom of the shop where they both worked while customers were still there, according to officials quoted by WTOP radio.

The couple’s visas expired about a month before the killing and investigators believe that Palak Patel wanted to return to India, but her husband opposed it, WTOP reported. The FBI’s notice says that the accused “should be considered armed and extremely dangerous”.

Although he was put on the list in 2017 with the $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture he is still on run.

In April 2015, Patel, (then 24) and his wife Palak(21) were working in night shift in the Dunkin’ Donuts store. The CCTV footage of the night of the crime showed Bhadresh and Palak walking together towards the store’s kitchen before disappearing behind the racks.

Last video of Bhadresh Patel and his wife Palak Patel 

The murder came to light after a customer who couldn’t see any employees at the store reported the matter to the police. The police found the body of Palak with multiple stab injuries, but by this time, Patel had already left the crime scene.

After the murder, Patel returned to his apartment and left in a cab with some documents.

It is believed that Patel fled the US with the help of human traffickers and could have gone to Canada or Ecuador, where he had relatives.

He was last known to have taken a taxi from a hotel in New Jersey to a train station in Newark in the state.

Tim Altomare, who was the police chief of Anne Arundel County at that time, told the radio: “The violence in this case was stark. It was heart-wrenching and it was a shock to our collective conscience on the police department.”

It is believed that Patel was in the US in 2017 when he was put on the FBI list and someone was knowingly helping Patel get out of the country.

FBI’s notice

Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel is wanted for allegedly killing his wife by striking her multiple times with an object while they were both working at a donut shop in Hanover, Maryland, on April 12, 2015.  A local arrest warrant was issued in the District Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County on April 13, 2015.

Patel was charged with first degree murder, second degree murder, first degree assault, second degree assault, and dangerous weapon with intent to injure. A federal arrest warrant was issued in the United States District Court, District of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, on April 20, 2015, after Patel was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.