NEW DELHI, Aug 30: Environment group Greenpeace said on Thursday it had located a former head of Union Carbide and called on US authorities to extradite him to India, where he is wanted over a 1984 gas disaster that killed thousands, reports Reuters.

The leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal was one of the world's worst industrial accidents and killed 3,000 people at the time. Thousands of others were left with lifetime illnesses.

Greenpeace said in a statement that members, accompanied by journalists, visited Warren Anderson at his US home in Long Island, New York, and served him with what they called a citizens' arrest warrant about 10 days ago.

"The US authorities claim they have been unable to find him so he has never appeared in court to face charges for crimes in Bhopal," Greenpeace said.

The Greenpeace statement came a day after an Indian court rejected a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation to reduce charges against Anderson, named as the main defendant in the case.

The court also asked New Delhi to press for Anderson's extradition in connection with the accident. He faces charges of culpable homicide, which carry a jail term of 10 years and a fine if found guilty.

Anderson is considered a fugitive under Indian law for refusing to face charges in Indian courts.

"We call on the US State Department to arrest him immediately now that his address is known and to extradite him to stand trial in Bhopal for culpable homicide," Greenpeace said.

"India must immediately and formally push for his arrest and extradition," it said. India has yet to start the extradition process.