Police in India are still trying to find the man Hampshire detectives want to question about the rape and murder of Eastleigh student, Hannah Foster.

On Monday, three Hants officers flew to the Punjab to assist in locating a 35-year-old Southampton married man, whose name has not been released.

It is more than three weeks since detectives said they had identified him as their prime suspect. The original plan was that the Hampshire team would not fly out until the man had been arrested.

Hannah, a popular and gifted A-level student at Barton Peveril College, was abducted from the street near her home in Portswood around 10.50pm on Friday, March 14th.

Her strangled body was found two days later, dumped in undergrowth beside rural Allington Lane, between West End and Fair Oak.

Detectives think the man they are looking for left Britain for India two days after that. He is believed to be the brother of a current or former Indian police officer.

The three-strong team from Hampshire includes the man heading the investigation, Detective Superintendent Alan Betts, and a Punjabi-speaking officer. The three, who will liaise with local police and Interpol, are expected to stay in India a week.

A constabulary spokeswoman said: "They do not have jurisdiction to conduct inquiries, but will provide local officers with their professional knowledge of the inquiry."

She denied that Hampshire police were frustrated by lack of progress in the Punjab. "We've got news from India but we're not in a position to declare it."

She said a reward for information from India leading to a conviction could be offered, but not in the short term. "It would be a huge logistical commitment. We've got to get someone in the Indian police to staff it."

Det Supt Betts said: "The purpose of the visit is to brief our Indian colleagues as fully as possible and to identify if there are any inquiries we can undertake in the UK which may assist in their search for the suspect."

Hampshire officers have worked over 8,500 hours overtime in the investigation, codenamed "Operation Springfield". Support staff have clocked up a further 1,000 overtime hours.

The murder hunt has so far involved 440 police employees, including a core of 100 Southampton officers. A team of detectives continues to work on the investigation at the major incident room at Hulse Road.

About six officers have been working an extra hour each day without pay as a tribute to Hannah, calling the extra effort "Hannah's Hour".