Student’s family plead for body to be returned

THE father of a student shot on Boxing Day found out about his son’s murder on Facebook.

Anuj Bidve, 23, was shot in the head at point-blank range as he walked with friends near their hotel in the Ordsall district of Salford, in the early hours of 26 December.

The murder of the Indian student is being treated by Greater Manchester Police as a hate crime which may have been racially motivated.

Subhash Bidve, the victim’s father, said he heard the news on Facebook and is now desperate to get his son’s body home to Pune in India.

“Nobody official from the UK government or consulate or the Indian government called us and told us about this,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“They confiscated his phone and must have known his father’s or mother’s number. They could have called us and told us what had happened to him.”

Mr Bidve called for the authorities in the UK to speed up the process of returning his son’s body to India.

He added: “That is my only concern. We do not have a specific date or time frame when it can be done and do not understand it. We find it difficult and it is not accepted. In Pune and other places it is assumed that this could be the racism or a hate crime. I do not know, my family do not know and the reasons for his killing we do not know.”

Detectives in Greater Manchester have arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of murder, while a 16-year-old boy, two aged 17 and a 19-year-old man are also being held.

Police say they are working with the Indian High Commission to help the victim’s family fly to the UK as soon as possible.

Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan said: “We have not established a motive for the senseless murder of Anuj, and there is no definitive evidence pointing to it being racially motivated.”

A reward of £50,000 has been offered for information regarding the shooting.