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Asian Voice | 8th July 2017
Knife robber rips Postmaster's turban off in frenzied attack Shocking footage has been released of an appalling knife attack when a postmaster had his turban ripped from his head. This shocking footage shows the worker from Birmingham tidying his store before he is confronted by a crazed raider. Police have released video of the attack on March 17 at 9.20am in a bid to try and track down the knifeman. The CCTV shows Tarsem Thethy in the post office in Slade Road, Erdington when a white male bursts through the door and lunges the knife towards his throat, cutting his victim in the process. Mr Thethy backs away from the man who then lunges his other arm towards him, ripping his
turban from his head. The man chases Mr Thethy around the store, clutching and pulling on his turban before his wife Kulwant hits the panic alarm. The alarm shocks the attacker, but doesn't stop him from taking one last swipe at the hands of Mr Thethy before running away empty handed. Struggling to move on from the ordeal, the couple agreed to do an appeal with the BBC's Crimewatch Roadshow, to help catch the man people are describing as a "danger to the public". PC Alan Reeves described the attack as frenzied and vicious: "This man is a particular danger to the public and needs taking off the streets. “We want to identify
Postmaster Tarsem Thethy is attacked with a knife
him and arrest him for the protection of the public, given the viciousness and how frenzied the attack was." Describing life after the attack, Kulwant told the show her husband has been hit hard by the assault: "He's been nervous, he's not the same person."
Mr Thethy has run the Slade Road store since 1998 with his wife Kulwant. Anyone with information or who can identify the man in the CCTV is asked to contact West Midlands Police on 101 and can now reach investigators using the Crimewatch Roadshow number of 08000 468 999.
Mortgage fraud gang ordered to repay more than £4 million or face more jail A mortgage fraud gang led by a charity boss and involving his wife and daughter have been ordered to pay back £4.3 million. Nine defendants were this week ordered to repay the huge amount after they netted more than £15 million in a lengthy and elaborate con. The gang was headed by Mehboob Akhtar, also known as Saint Pir Pandariman, a self-proclaimed spiritualist faith healer. He ran the Muslim charity the Darbar Unique Centre, in Stoke-onTrent. Birmingham Crown Court heard Pandariman, 61, used donations from followers to set up a portfolio of 41 buyto-let properties, with the help of his right-hand man,
Mohammed Zabbir Hussain who admitted his part in the huge scam. Pandariman’s wife Kadija Akhtar, 54, and daughter Rushbmmani Akhtar, 29, were also part of the gang who were jailed in April 2016 for what was believed to be a £4.4 million fraud. But it has now emerged the total benefit from the fraud was more than three times higher than the £4.4 million figure. Proceeds of crime hearings for the gang this week heard they actually got away with a staggering £15,569,554. Pandariman, of Farman Close, Meir, and Zabbir Hussain, of Castleton Road, Lightwood, made a total of £10.9 million alone from the
The head of a drugs gang whose members were jailed for more than 200 years over a £3.5 million heroin racket has been ordered to repay over £600,000 of dirty money. Zaheer Hussain is already serving a 20-year sentence, imposed in 2013 after detectives smashed a plot to flood Birmingham’s streets with drugs smuggled in from Afghanistan. Nineteen of his henchmen were also jailed as police untangled the complex crime web, which netted Hussain more than £1.3 million. Detectives also uncovered two guns and hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash linked to his group. Now the drugs kingpan, 33, has been given three months to hand over £605,000 or face another five years
behind bars. He could also be stripped of more cash and belongings in the future to make up the £724,000 shortfall between his crime earnings and the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) demand. Hussain’s money will be used for community projects. Det Chief Insp Darren Walsh, of West Midlands Police’s economic crime unit, said: “Hussain had already been handed a very lengthy jail term but it was important for us to pursue him through the courts to recoup his illgotten gains. “Our financial investigators have done a brilliant job, working tirelessly to build a confiscation case against Hussain and prove what money and assets he’d accrued through drug dealing. “It’s important we show to
Holy man Mehboob Akhtar, also known as Saint Pirwali Pandariman, Khajida Akhtar, Rushbamani Akhtar and Mohammed Hussain (bottom row left to right) Alfan Ali, Mohammed Gaffar, Naqiat Akhtar and Graham Lockstone
complex conspiracy. Nine defendants have now been ordered by Birmingham Crown Court to pay back a total of
£4,346,853 - believed to be one of the biggest ever single proceeds of crime recoveries by West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service.
Feared gangster Zaheer Hussain ordered to repay £600k of dirty money
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CCTV appeal over robber who rips earrings out of women's ears
Police are hunting a serial Black Country robber who has been terrorising women by tearing earrings off them in the street. West Midlands Police have released a picture of a man they want to speak to in connection with the earring snatches which has left some victims needing medical treatment. Police are searching for the robber who has targeted seven women across the Smethwick, Wednesbury, Great Barr and West Bromwich areas since May 20. The robber walks up to women in the street and rips the earrings from their ears leaving them in pain and traumatised. A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “We need your help to identify this man. We want to speak to him about a series of earring snatches across the Sandwell area.
Boys' school teacher Harleen swaps classroom for catwalk
A teacher will go to the top of the class in the eyes of the boys in her classroom if she achieves catwalk success. Harleen Sidhu, aged 25, teaches at Kings Heath Boys’ School. But the classroom won’t be her focus on Sunday night when she competes against 14 other girls in the Miss Birmingham Great Britain pageant at the city’s Park Regis Hotel. And she is a Miss with a mission. For she hopes that more British Asian women will follow her example. Former Aston University student Harleen leads a busy life, for as well as teaching she is completing an acting course and has done work for several charities including Diabetes UK and the British Red Cross. She is currently raising money for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Charity.
Promoting British values in school can help fight extremism, says Ofsted chief
Schools can play a "crucial" role in combating extremism in the wake of recent terrorist attacks by promoting tolerance and British values, the head of Ofsted has said. Giving young people "knowledge and resilience" is as important as physical safety, the body's chief inspector Amanda Spielman told an education conference. Ms Spielman replaced Sir Michael Wilshaw in the post in January, having previously been the chairwoman of qualifications regulator Ofqual. In July last year Sir Michael singled out Birmingham, Luton and Bradford as areas of "concern" as he warned that missing pupils could be at risk of exposure to extremism.
City man arrested on suspicion of terror offences after landing at Heathrow
Zaheer Hussain was found to be running the organised crime group who were importing and distributing heroin in Birmingham.
people that crime doesn’t pay. This money will be put into the public purse and can be spent on crime prevention projects and community initiatives.” West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson, said: “Communities in east Birmingham really suffered from this group’s drug
dealing so I would encourage residents there to apply to my office for POCA money through the Active Citizens Fund. “That fund has been set up to help support good causes and local projects that benefit communities. It is always very satisfying to take money out of criminals’ hands and put it to good use.”
Two men – one from Birmingham – were arrested on suspicion of terror offences after landing on a flight at Heathrow Airport. The pair, both aged 21, were detained by detectives from West Midlands Counter Terrorism after their flight from Turkey landed just after 10am on Saturday. They were being taken to a location in the West Midlands where they were due to be questioned on suspicion of preparing for terrorist acts. Police said the arrests were intelligenceled and there was no immediate threat to the public. The other man was from Leicester.