Shrien and Anni Dewani at their wedding in Mumbai

Dec. 12: The case against Shrien Dewani, the millionaire arrested on suspicion of having his wife killed on honeymoon, has taken a dramatic new twist after South Africa’s police chief linked him to another murder three years ago.

Dewani, 30, denied any involvement in a second killing. His spokesperson branded the latest claim a fabrication, amid fears the businessman has become the victim of a politically motivated smear to protect South Africa’s tourism industry.

General Bheki Cele, the South African national commissioner, told reporters that his force was investigating a possible link between Dewani and the murder in 2007 of Dr Pox Raghavjee.

Dewani, from Bristol, faces extradition to South Africa after his wife Anni, 28, was shot during their honeymoon in Cape Town last month. The police claim Dewani paid two hit-men to kill his bride in a sham carjacking, although the motive remains unclear.

Dr Raghavjee was also murdered in a carjacking near his home in King William’s Town, 650 miles from Cape Town. The police at the time ruled out robbery as a motive because neither his car nor valuables were taken.

Following the murder of Dewani, Heather Raghavjee, the doctor’s widow, flew to Cape Town to offer comfort to Dewani and his father Prakash. The police appear to have seized upon this as they attempt to build a case against Dewani.

Max Clifford, who has been hired as Dewani’s spokesperson, said yesterday: “The South African police are orchestrating a politically motivated smear campaign to protect their tourism industry. It’s a total fabrication. How flimsy and ridiculous this whole thing is. If it wasn’t so tragic it would be a farce, a comedy.”

Clifford said Raghavjee had never met Dewani prior to the honeymoon murder, and had made the journey to Cape Town only at the request of her daughter-in-law Alvita Raghavjee who lives in the Bristol area and knows the Dewani family.