India vowed to pursue the extradition of a former chairman of Union Carbide from the United States to try him over the Bhopal gas disaster that killed or injured thousands in 1984.

Greenpeace activists demonstrate against U.S. multinational Dow Chemicals outside its offices in Bombay, September 2, 2002. India is determined to press the U.S. for the extradition of former Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson over the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster that killed thousands, a Foreign Ministry official said on September 5. Photo by Arko Datta/Reuters

The comments came amid allegations by rights groups and victims that the Indian government was attempting to dilute the case against former company chairman Warren Anderson.

"The government of India is committed to seeking the extradition of Anderson," foreign ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said.

"The concerned agencies have been asked to strengthen the evidentiary details that link him to the Bhopal gas case so that the extradition request is successful," Rao said.

But she conceded that the case against Anderson had dragged for an inordinately long period.

A court in the central Indian city of Bhopal last month ruled that Anderson should face culpable homicide charges over the gas disaster.

The August 28 ruling represented a major victory for the disaster victims, who are worried that Anderson will escape justice.

The former Union Carbide chairman is regarded as an absconder in India after failing to appear in court and returning to the United States, where he has no listed address.

A day after the court's verdict international environmental group Greenpeace claimed it had tracked down Anderson in the upscale Hamptons resort area in Long Island, New York.

If Anderson is extradited from the United States and convicted in India, he could face a prison term of up to 20 years.

Around 3,000 people died in the gas leak at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on December 3, 1984 and more than half a million people were seriously injured.

At least another 10,000 deaths have been linked to the disaster, according to victims' groups.

Copyright 2002 AFP

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