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A Bangladeshi man has been detained for questioning in the death of an Indian man and his daughter whose burned bodies were found last week in Orange County in southern California, authorities said.
Iftekhar Murtaza, 22, identified in court papers as the ex-boyfriend of Shayona Dhanak, the 18-year-old daughter of the victim Jayprakash Dhanak, was apprehended while carrying a one-way ticket to Bangladesh at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport by the US Marshals Office.
Anaheim police Sgt Rick Martinez described Murtaza as a 'person of interest' in the deaths of Jayprakash Dhanak, 56, and his 20-year-old daughter Karishma Dhanak, the Orange County Register reported on its web site.
Jayprakash's wife, Leela Dhanak, was severely beaten in the attack but survived.
The victims were stabbed, strangled and burned, according to the documents. The Dhanaks' Anaheim Hills home was set on fire.
Murtaza was arraigned on Saturday and charged with being a fugitive. He is being held without bond because he is considered a flight risk.
OC Register reported that Murtaza was identified by a 'victim,' according to police documents presented to the Court.
'This is still a very wide and complex investigation,' Martinez said, adding 'we are not discounting anything.'
Martinez noted that 'based on the brutality of the crime, we believe there was more than one suspect involved.'
The motive for the crime appears to be a dispute over religion.
'Information developed revealed the suspect was upset with Shayona's parents and sister for discontinuing the relationship due to different religious backgrounds, Hindu and Muslim,' the court papers said.
The Dhanaks were reported by friends and neighbours to be devout members of the Swaminarayan sect. Murtaza is Muslim. Shayona Dhanak, who was elsewhere when the attack occurred, had since been under police protection.
Murtaza was connected with the crime through telephone toll records that revealed that his telephone was used on the day of the murders less than two miles from the crime scene and about 50 minutes before the attack began, documents say.
After his arrest, Murtaza gave a voluntary statement in which he said he was 'not in Anaheim on the day or evening of the homicide,' according to the court papers.