Cops Fly To India To Meet Gun Victim's Family

British police officers are flying to India to meet the family of a student shot dead in Salford on Boxing Day.

Anuj Bidve, 23, was blasted at close range in an apparently motiveless attack in the early hours of December 26.

The gunman, a white man in his 20s who was wearing a grey top, crossed the road to speak to his victim before shooting him in the side of the head.

Detectives are treating it as a "hate crime" which may have been racially motivated.

Mr Bidve's father, Subhash, was critical of the British and Indian authorities as he discovered his son's death on Facebook at home in Pune, India, before police in the UK could contact him.

Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson and a specially trained family liaison officer, who deals with bereaved families, are travelling to meet Mr Bidve's family and representatives from the Indian authorities.

Assistant Chief Constable Dawn Copley said: "Our family liaison officers are in regular contact with Anuj's family but passing information and updates over the phone is not the best way to communicate in such difficult and tragic circumstances.

"It is important to me personally, and Greater Manchester Police, to have someone from the force meet with Anuj's family at the earliest opportunity and help support them at this time.

"Having conversations face-to-face is absolutely the right thing to do. We will of course also provide whatever support we can throughout the family's forthcoming trip to the UK."

Senior officers have described the murder of Mr Bidve as "horrific" and a £50,000 reward has been put up by police to help catch the killer.

Mr Bidve was studying for a micro-electronics postgraduate qualification at Lancaster University, and was described by tutors as "an outstanding applicant at the very beginning of a promising career".

On New Year's Eve a 19-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder was bailed until the end of March.

A 20-year-old man remains in police custody for questioning.

Three others, a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys, were earlier released on bail pending further inquiries.