Suspect faced trial for threatening to kill murder victim
THE man being pursued by police in connection with the murder of a mother as she pushed a pram was facing trial for threatening to kill her, it was reported last night.
Habibur Masum is accused of menacing Kulsuma Akter, 27, after it is claimed he attacked her.
Masum had been on bail and was due to go to trial this year. He was also barred from contacting her.
West Yorkshire’s Assistant Chief Constable Damien Miller called on Masum, 25, to surrender to officers following the arrest of a 23-year-old in connection to the investigation.
Hunt
Mr Miller said: “I would encourage Masum to contact us and hand himself in immediately. At this stage, we have done an all-ports warning, and I believe he is still in the country.
“Masum is obviously a suspect, we do have a victim who has sadly died, he is a risk so I would ask everyone to contact us and not approach him.
“We have officers conducting house-to-house inquiries and are doing sweeps of CCTV footage from the last areas he was seen in.
“We are doing everything in our power to locate him.”
Searches are focusing on Oldham, Burnley and Chester, where he is believed to have strong links. Tragic Kulsuma was stabbed in the neck as she wheeled the five-month-old in his pram through central Bradford on Saturday afternoon. She recently moved there from Oldham, where her devastated family still live. The baby was unhurt. West Yorkshire’s Assistant Chief Constable Damien Miller said: “This is someone who has come into the area for a particular reason.”
Police appealed for taxi drivers who may have picked up the suspect, paying cash, to contact them.
Meanwhile a shopkeeper who raced to help Ms Akter has said that “nothing could be done” to save her.
Geo Khan had heard screaming and discovered her face down in a pool of blood beside the pram.
He said: “There was no pulse. Blood was all over on the floor and there were stab wounds in her neck.”
Mr Khan, 69, said a passing doctor took over giving first aid. He added: “Him and me and another guy tried to rescue her, but she was gone.”
He said the woman – who he believes was from Bangladesh – had been in his shop the day before. Mr Khan added: “She was a very innocent person – the smile on her face.”