Husband of burned woman sought

Emergency services at the scene where Ranjeeta Singh, inset, burned to death on Friday. Photos / Greg Bowker, Supplied

The husband of a woman found burned to death next to a Huntly road last week has fled overseas with the couple's son.

Police say the husband of Ranjeeta Sharma, 28, of south Auckland, flew to Fiji with the couple's four-year-old son the day after her body was found.

"He is considered a person of considerable significance to the investigation and we are working with Interpol to locate and speak to him, Detective Senior Sergeant Nigel Keall said today.

"We are also working with overseas authorities to establish the wellbeing of the young boy and ensure his safety."

Mr Keall said Ranjeeta's family are aware of the homicide inquiry and are being kept up-to-date with developments.

At a media conference today, Mr Keall said a focus of the homicide inquiry was establishing Ranjeeta's movements and how she came to be where her body was found on Hangapipi Road last Thursday night.

Both Ranjeeta and her husband were originally from Fiji. Mr Keall would not comment on the status of their relationship.

Police are looking for anyone who may have seen Ranjeeta's silver Subaru station wagon - with the registration FSD433 - between south Auckland and the Huntly-Rotowaro area on Thursday or Friday.

"A key focus of the enquiry now is establishing Ranjeeta's movements and how she came to be where her body was found," Mr Keall said.

"Given the remoteness of the scene where Ranjeeta was killed it's likely a vehicle was involved. Exactly which vehicle we don't know at this stage, so were doing tests to either confirm it was Ranjeeta's vehicle or eliminate it."

Mr Keall said a large proportion of the investigation team was brought to south Auckland because that was where she lived and worked and had family and friends.

Several search warrants were being executed in the region, he said.

Ms Sharma had at least one close relative here but the majority of her family was in Fiji.

"Ranjeeta was burnt to death beside a public road, obviously her family are in shock, it's been particularly difficult for them," Mr Keall said.

Police launched a homicide investigation after it was established that Ranjeeta was alive when she was set alight, and that an accelerant was used.

They earlier said said they were not looking for a weapon, and that forensic tests were being used to identify the accelerant.

"We believe an accelerant was used to start the fire and we are awaiting the results of forensic samples taken from the scene to determine what that was," Mr Keall said yesterday.

Firefighters called to deal with the incident at first thought they had been called to a scrub fire.

They had offered trauma counselling.

- With NZPA, NZ Herald staff