Investigators from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) collaborated with colleagues from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to arrest a Spring Hill man who fled to South America after being suspected in a 2021 attempted murder case.
HCSO Community Relations Manager Denise Moloney said that just after midnight on July 3, 2021, deputies responded to a 9-1-1 call from a person self-described as injured at a residence on Luxembourg Court in Spring Hill.
Upon arrival, they found an adult female who was bleeding profusely inside the home.
Hernando County Fire and Emergency Services treated the woman at the scene before transporting her to a local trauma center for treatment.
In a subsequent investigation, detectives learned that the woman’s injuries were inflicted by Harry Sukhraj, who was seen leaving the residence in a 1999 Ford Econoline van.
That van was located shortly after the incident, but Sukhraj was not found and investigators suspected that he had fled to Guyana on the northern mainland of South America.
Hoping to locate Sukhraj in Guyana, HCSO Det. George Loydgren contacted the U.S. Department of State and worked with that agency along with local authorities to obtain documents that would allow them to hold Sukhraj in Guyana if and when they came in contact with him.
On Nov. 1, 2023, Sukhraj visited the American Embassy in Guyana to get a passport to travel to the United States.
“Sukhraj’s original passport, along with other documents, were seized by detectives early in the investigation,” Moloney said.
Meanwhile, the process that would allow local authorities in Guyana to hold Sukhraj there was still incomplete.
Later, Loydgren learned that Sukhraj had purchased an airline ticket to New York. At the last minute, Sukhraj changed his plans and traveled to Miami instead.
When he landed in Miami on Nov. 21, Sukhraj, 59, was met at the terminal by U. S. Customs agents who took him into custody on the HCSO arrest warrant for attempted murder in the July 2021 case.
On Dec. 5, Sukhraj was taken to the Hernando County Detention Center, where the HCSO warrant was served and where he is being held without bail.
HCSO detectives also charged Sukhraj with fraud, insurance fraud and perjury in connection with another case.
All the cases against Sukhraj are pending.
