THE REWARD for the capture of the prime suspect in the Hannah Foster murder hunt could completely revolutionise the life of any family living in his native India.

Police said the new increased bounty of five million rupees - around £70,000 - represented a small fortune in the Punjab, where suspected killer Maninder Pal Singh Kohli is thought to be in hiding.

The 35-year-old has become one of Britain's most wanted men after fleeing to India two days after Hannah's body was discovered dumped in a country lane.

Detectives said the 17-year-old student had been raped and strangled after being abducted as she walked home from a night out last March.

Hampshire police put a reward of one million rupees on the table last September for information leading to Kohli's arrest.

On Friday, above, the Daily Echo revealed that murder squad detectives announced the offer was to be increased five-fold in the hope of flushing out the former sandwich delivery driver.

Police said it would take a skilled worker 30 years to earn just a fifth of the huge new reward.

Det Supt Alan Betts, leading the murder inquiry, codenamed Operation Springfield, stressed there were hard and fast rules surrounding payment of the reward.

"The reward is to be paid for information leading to the arrest of Kohli or for facilitating his willing surrender to custody," he said.

"Payment would not be considered appropriate if he were to be tricked or coerced into leaving any country in which he is currently residing, thereby avoiding the legal safeguards of the extradition process."

Det Supt Betts added: "If information leading to the arrest of Kohli was as a result of the activity or assistance of a number of separate individuals, we will ensure that the reward is fairly distributed among those involved."