World News | Reward Offered in Indian-origin Man's Road Collision Death in UK
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Scotland Yard on Monday announced a GBP 20,000 reward for anyone with information that helps detectives track down those behind the road collision death of an 80-year-old Indian-origin man last year.
London, Sep 25 (PTI) Scotland Yard on Monday announced a GBP 20,000 reward for anyone with information that helps detectives track down those behind the road collision death of an 80-year-old Indian-origin man last year.
Bhagwanji Rughani died after being struck by a white van in the car park of a supermarket in Barnet, north London, on September 24, 2022. As part of a one-year appeal, the Metropolitan Police said the independent crime fighting charity Crimestoppers is offering the award to help track down those guilty of the fatal crash.
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“It is now one-year since this tragic incident and Rughani's family and friends remain shattered by his death,” said Detective Constable Jonathan Stokes from the Met Police's Road and Transport Policing Command, who is leading the investigation.
“A reward of GBP 20,000 is available for anyone who can provide information to Crimestoppers (freephone 0800 555 111) that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. I would appeal to anyone who knows who was driving that van, or anyone who has information that could progress this investigation to get in contact immediately,” he said.
Police also released footage showing the van involved, which was using cloned registration plates. It is believed that two white men were in the van at approximately 1650 local time on 24 September 2022 when it was seen driving around the Tesco car park in the Coppetts Centre in Colney Hatch area of the British capital.
The van came to a sudden stop and then quickly reversed, colliding with Rughani, and then drove from the scene without stopping. Rughani was later taken to hospital, where he died from his injuries the following day.
“The whole family are devastated with the tragic loss of our loving father and we all miss him dearly everyday,” his family said in a statement, released via the police.
Two men were arrested as part of this investigation but have since been released with no further action.
Alexa Loukas, Crimestoppers London Regional Manager, said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr Rughani, who are still feeling the pain of losing a loved one in such an awful way.
“Please remember that with our charity, we promise no police, no courts, no witness statements. All you have to do is tell us what you know. Crimestoppers, which is completely independent of the police, keeps its promise of 100 per cent anonymity to more than a thousand people who trust us with their crime information every single day.”
The charity stressed that any contact made to provide information via phone or online cannot be traced to any personal contact details.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)