London: Greater Manchester Police on Friday, offered a 50,000 pound reward for information as they
investigated the "horrific" murder of an Indian student on
Boxing Day.
Anuj Bidve, 23, was shot in the head at point-blank range
as he walked with friends near their hotel in the inner-city
Ordsall district of the city, in the early hours of December
26.
The murder of the Indian student is being treated by
detectives at Greater Manchester Police (GMP) as a "hate
crime" which may have been racially motivated.
Today senior officers from the force announced the cash
reward and said they hoped it would help get the killer gunman
caught as soon as possible.
Detective Chief Supt Mary Doyle, leading the murder
inquiry, said: "It is an extremely unusual, savage and
motiveless attack, an absolutely horrific crime, which is why
we are taking the step of issuing it (the reward) a bit
earlier than we normally would."
According to the Press Association, Police have not said
whether investigators have so far met with a wall of silence
from the local community in Ordsall, one of the most deprived
inner-city districts of Greater Manchester.
Police said a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys
arrested over the murder have been released on bail pending
further inquiries. Two men, aged 19 and 20, remain in custody.
Earlier, UK police apologised after it emerged that the
victim's father learned of his son's murder from Facebook.
Subhash Bidve read a post on the social networking site before
officers were able to get in touch with him in India to
deliver the news about his son.
Assistant chief constable Dawn Copley said: "A family
liaison officer was quickly put in place after Anuj's murder
who made exhaustive inquiries to try and inform the family and
deliver the awful news personally. Unfortunately, as the
officer was attempting to contact the family through the right
channels, a post was put on Facebook.
"Since then, we have had two family liaison officers in
regular contact with Anuj's immediate family and those who
speak on his behalf to keep them updated about every step of
the progress of the investigation. Greater Manchester Police
is also working very hard to bring the family over to
Manchester as soon as possible."
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 31, 2011, 08:22