Suspected armed gang leader extradited from Pakistan over 2005 UK police slaying

A 74-year-old man extradited from Pakistan appeared in a London court on Thursday to face a murder charge in the death of a police officer who was fatally shot while responding to a bank robbery almost two decades ago.

Piran Ditta Khan attended a brief hearing at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court. He is charged with killing Constable Sharon Beshenivsky, 38, who was gunned down outside a travel agency in the northern England city of Bradford on November 18, 2005.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Beshenivsky’s colleague Constable Theresa Milburn was seriously injured.

Khan also faces charges of robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

Beshenivsky’s slaying shocked Britain, where most police officers do not carry guns. Six men were arrested but Khan, who was suspected of being the armed gang’s organizer, had fled abroad.

UK prosecutors authorized charges against Khan in 2006, and he was arrested in Pakistan in 2020 on a British extradition warrant.

Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that he had been flown to the UK.

Read more:

UK police shoot dead man brandishing knives near parliament

Two officers stabbed in central London: UK police

UK PM: We will ‘hunt down’ anyone linked to London Bridge attack