Panaji:
A Briton of Indian origin, wanted by the UK police in a kidnapping case, died in judicial custody in Goa, jail authorities said on Tuesday.
"Ajay Kaushal fell sick and was transferred to Goa medical college where he died last night," R K Satardekar, Superintendent of Sada jail, where he was jailed pending extradition, told PTI.
Kaushal was on the run after being convicted for violent kidnapping and torture of a businessman in UK in 2003, police said.
Satardekar said that a case of custodial death has been registered and an inquiry is commissioned in the matter.
Dismissing rumours that Kaushal committed suicide, Satardekar said the possibility that he died a natural death is not ruled out as he was suffering from diabetes.
"I am yet to get the medical statement from the hospital. Only after that, I will be able to ascertain the reasons of his death," he said.
Kaushal, hailing from Manchester, was arrested in Goa in October last year after he landed in a police net following the death of his friend due to a drug overdose at Colva beach, 35 kms away from here.
Police noticed Kaushal after he visited Margao police station in November last year in connection with death of his friend, Scott Youdale, 39, along with whom he was holidaying in Goa.
The fugitive had jumped bail and fled Britain before he was due to go on trial in January 2005 for allegedly being part of the kidnapping.
Police sources said Kaushal was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and has been on the run since then.