London: A 51-year-old former accountant has been charged with the murder of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) millionaire businessman Amarjit Chohan and four memebers of his family.

William Horncy, from Bournemouth in Dorset, was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard's specialist Crime Directorate on September 2.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said that Horncy has been charged with murdering Chohan and four members of his family.

Horncy, who is also charged with preventing Chohan's lawful and decent burial, appeared at West London Magistrates Court on September 3.

He is also charged with kidnapping Chohan, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.

Chohan had a flourishing transport business with an annual turnover of 4 million pounds.

The body of 46-year-old Chohan, a resident of Heston, West London, was discovered washed up near Bournemouth pieron April 22.

His wife Nancy Chohan, 25, was also found in the sea off Dorset on July 15.

The two young sons, Devinder and Ravinder, and Mrs Chohan's 51-year-old mother, Charanjit Kaur, are still missing.

The family disappeared in mid-February and a police investigation began after Nancy's New Zealand- based brother raised an alarm.

Horncy is the second man to be charged with the murders, after Peter Rees, 38. A third man, Kenneth Regan, 54, from Salisbury was arrested in Belgium on August 2 in connection with the murders and is awaiting extradition proceedings.

PTI