$1 mn reward to nab Indian suspect in Australia murder case

A $1 million reward has been announced to help nab an Indian man, who according to police may have murdered an Australian woman on a beach before fleeing to India.

Pharmacy worker and animal shelter volunteer Toyah Cordingley, 24, was killed while walking her dog on Wangetti Beach in October 2018. Her body was found the following morning by her father, the Guardian reported.

Three Queensland police detectives have travelled to India and are working with authorities to find Rajwinder Singh, 38, who worked as a nurse in Innisfail, but fled the country two days after the murder, leaving behind his job, wife and three children in Australia, news.com.au reported.

An investigation centre has also been established in Cairns and police officers from across the state who can speak both Hindi and Punjabi have been flown in, according to the police.

Police have also released images of Singh at the Cairns Airport on October 23, 2018, from where he flew to Sydney before travelling to India.

In March 2021, Australian authorities made a request to extradite Singh, who is originally from Buttar Kalan, Punjab.

His brother-in-law Harpreet Singh previously told The Courier Mail that the timing of his return to his hometown of Amritsar in Punjab was a coincidence.

"Raj is not capable of murder... He is too quiet, too afraid. He was under a lot of tension from his work," Harpreet Singh had said.