Taxi driver Ethsham Ul-Haq Ghafoor, 26, was found with his hands tied and bound to the steering wheel of his cab in Gedling, Nottingham after he was gunned down in “an execution”
Four men and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a taxi driver who was shot dead in his cab 30 years ago.
Ethsham Ul-Haq Ghafoor, 26, known as Shami, was gunned down as he sat in his taxi in Gedling, Notts, on November 22, 1994. The dad-of-one was found by a milkman at 4.30am at Lambley Lane Playing Fields with his hands tied and bound to the steering wheel. He had been shot in what described by police as “an execution” but nobody was ever charged in connection with his death at the time.
Last week, on the 30th anniversary of his murder, police launched a reappeal with Crimestoppers offering a £50,000 reward for information. Now, five people have been arrested on suspicion of murder in the Sneinton and Bakersfield areas of Nottingham. The four men, aged 64, 57, 52, 51 and one woman, aged 47, were detained this morning.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Firstly, I would like to thank the community and the media for sharing our appeal for information. This was a dreadful crime that has left Shami’s family waiting 30 years for answers. Following our appeal, we have received numerous calls from the public.
“I would like to personally thank them for their support. Please continue to share our appeal and contact us with any information you may have. We know that the answer to Shami’s murder lies within the community, and we would encourage anyone with information, no matter how small, to please continue to get in touch with our officers or through Crimestoppers.
“Crimestoppers is offering up to £50,000 for any information which leads to a conviction.” Shami was last seen in Carlton Square at 2.40am with three Asian men in his black and white Ford Sierra. The force said there will be a large police presence in the Sneinton and Bakersfield area while investigations continue.
Neighbourhood Inspector Stephen Dalby, who covers the Sneinton and Bakersfield area, added: “I would like to reassure the community who are likely to see an increased police presence in Sneinton and Bakersfield today. This is part of our investigation into the murder of Ethsham Ul-Haq Ghafoor.
“Please do not be alarmed. Officers are in the area carrying out a thorough investigation and are likely to be in the area for most of the day. There will be reassurance patrols engaging with the community so anyone with any concerns please do talk to one of our officers. They are here to help.”
“As always, we would like to thank the public for their patience.” Last week, Shami’s family spoke at a police press conference about their “daily torture” of never finding out why their loved one was killed. Shami, of Sherwood Rise, Nottingham, was described as “an outgoing, charming and kind man” who died five months before his baby daughter was born.
His sister Aisha Ghafoor, 58, from Nottingham, said: “We are the ones that are serving the life sentence. We are the ones doing the time. When they killed Shami that day, they killed every chance of us being a happy family again. They stole our Shami from us. Even after 30 years, the feelings are still raw.
“We are a close family, and this tragedy has kept us together. But it also comes with immeasurable pain and isolation. He was such a central figure in our family. Our mother never recovered from his loss. She never got to find out who killed her son and she never will. She died at the age of 85. Even right up to the last weeks of her life she would say ‘I’m not going to find out who killed my son, am I?
“Our youngest brother was also robbed of his life the day Shami died. He was only 17 when Shami was killed. Traumatised by the crime, he was afraid to go out and spent the rest of his short life a recluse. He had lost the big brother he idolised, suddenly taken in such brutal circumstances.
“Shami was also murdered five months before his baby daughter was born. He never got to meet his daughter, she never got to know him, he will never see the beautiful children she has now brought into the world nor his son’s children. Silence is not an option anymore. Someone out there knows who murdered my brother and why he was killed.
“Over the past years we have been told by some people to ‘move on’ and ‘to get on with your own lives. But my question is this – how can you move on when you don’t have closure? We can’t and we won’t until we know the truth. We know that closure won’t bring him back, but we need answers.
“Why someone would kill such a loving family man and rob his daughter, son, and grandchildren of ever knowing him. We owe it to them. I want to say to the community – please, it is never too late to come forward. It is never too late to make a difference. Our parents never got that closure. Please end our agony. Please, let us finally understand what happened.”
Anyone with information can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or call 101 quoting incident number 0300 of November 15, 2024.
