Police investigating the brutal shooting of Indian student Anuj Bidve in an apparently motiveless attack are now investigating the possibility that the murder was racially motivated and a hate crime.
Twenty-three year old Anuj Bidve was studying a postgraduate degree in microelectronics at Lancaster University, and was out in Manchester, Salford with a group of Indian friends over the Christmas period.
According to the police report, Anuj was approached by two white males and asked for the time, a brief conversation followed and then one of the white males pointed a gun at Anuj’s head and shot him at point blank range.
The police say that there was no apparent motive for the murder and was completely baffled at the motiveless purpose of the crime, however two days after the first reports regarding the killing the police now say that they have not ruled out that the attack may be racially motivated and a hate crime.
Five males are being questioned by police in relation to the murder of Anuj. His parents who live in India are reported to be devastated by the murder of their son.
Anuj was in the UK for only three months and his brother-in-law, Rakesh Sonawane, said that it was his dream to come to the UK. A dream that has now turned into a terrible nightmare for his friends and family.
Police say that there was no racial language or remarks leading up to the murder and on a Facebook page set up in memory of Anuj, it says that he was killed for not answering the question about the time.
It is still speculation whether Anuj’s murder was racially motivated or part of the senseless ongoing gun crime on UK streets, however considering that the jury of the Stephen Lawrence trial are deliberating whether Gary Dobson and David Norris are guilty of the teenager’s murder 18 years after his death, if Anju’s murder is established as racially motivated it will send shock-waves throughout the black and minority ethnic communities.
It can easily be proven how the mainstream media and the British government has created a climate of hate and fear against immigrants, however this analysis will be delayed until more is known regarding the motive for the killing.
At this time our thoughts go out to the Bidve family and to Anju’s friends.
For further research:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-16331668
