Killer driver hiding in India: report

Fugitive killer driver Puneet Puneet is reportedly hiding out in the Indian city of
Chandigarh and it could be years before he is extradited back to Australia.

Puneet, 19, who police believe fled Australia using a friend's passport, is living
in a small community on the outskirts of his home town with relatives, the Nine
Network reported on Tuesday.
And the fear is that if authorities move on him he could flee to Pakistan, about
200km away.
The family of Puneet's victim, university student Dean Hofstee, may not see justice
meted out to his killer for years, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland
admitted.
Victorian Premier John Brumby is under fire for not raising the issue of the
fugitive culpable driver with officials during his trip to India.
Puneet, a hospitality student from India, skipped bail and fled to New Delhi on June
12 after pleading guilty to culpable driving.
He killed Mr Hofstee, 19, and seriously injured Clancy Coker, 20, when his car hit
the Gold Coast students as they walked to their hotel in central Melbourne in
October, 2008.
The Victorian government waited until Tuesday - more than three months after Puneet
is believed to have fled - to contact Mr Hofstee's family about his extradition.
Mr Overland backed Mr Brumby saying extraditions were a matter for the commonwealth,
not the state government.
"These matters can take years, okay? They can take years to resolve, so I'm not
going to put any timelines about this," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"I'm not going to give a running commentary about where the process is up to."
Mr Brumby's eight-day mission to India wraps up on Thursday. He then jets off to
Scotland to meet the Queen.
Mr Hofstee's mother, Fran, received a phone call from Acting Premier and
Attorney-General Rob Hulls on Tuesday to assure her authorities were working on
Puneet's extradition.
"We haven't had any information coming through to us (before Tuesday) to say that
they are pursuing it," she told AAP.
Ms Hofstee questioned whether Mr Brumby decided not to raise the issue because he
was putting it in the "too-hard basket".
"We would like to be able to get on with our lives.
"I don't want to have to worry every six months or so, once again, we've got to make
all the noises and make people uncomfortable because they are or they aren't doing
their jobs correctly."
After the matter received widespread media coverage on Tuesday, Mr Brumby issued a
statement explaining authorities had advised him it may damage the extradition
process if he raised Puneet's case with Indian officials.
"I have not raised the matter in India and do not intend to, as the strong advice
from agencies is that doing so could make an extradition even more difficult," he
said.
"My public comments in relation to this matter have been consistent. Any change in
my public comments risked being counter-productive.
"I stand ready to raise this matter at a political level should enforcement agencies
advise that this would help secure an extradition."
Extraditions are complex matters that take time and involve international law, he said.
Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said the premier had embarrassed himself by
not raising the Puneet issue during his trip and he must do so immediately.
"It's unbelievable, absolutely extraordinary, that John Brumby would view this as
not a priority and did not have it on the agenda," he told reporters.