Kiaran Stapleton to appear at City of Manchester magistrates court over point-blank shooting of Indian student on Boxing Day
A 20-year-old man has been charged with the murder of an Indian student who was shot in the head at point-blank range in the early hours of Boxing Day in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Micro-electronics postgraduate Anuj Bidve, 23, was shot by a gunman in the Ordsall district of Salford as he made his way with nine friends from his hotel to queue up early for Christmas sales in central Manchester.
Kiaran Stapleton, from Ordsall, has been charged with the murder and will appear at the City of Manchester magistrates court on Monday morning, said Nazir Afzal, the chief crown prosecutor for the north-west area.
Announcing that Greater Manchester police had been authorised to charge Stapleton, Afzal said there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.
"This is a continuing, thorough and particularly complex investigation which, in my view, has been handled by GMP with utmost professionalism and dedication," he told a press conference.
"Rarely are so many challenges overcome without their tireless efforts."
The announcement came as a senior officer from the force was due to fly to India on Sunday night with a family liaison officer to meet Bidve's family, who have accused police and British officials of dragging their feet and failing to provide adequate support.
Chief superintendent Russ Jackson and his colleague will also meet representatives from Indian authorities, Greater Manchester police 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," said assistant chief constable Dawn Copley, who has overall command of the investigation and appeared beside Afzal.
"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. "
She said that the investigation remained a complex one and the fact that police had charged someone does not mean it is complete.
"As such, we are still asking for the public to contact us with any information they may have and there remains a £50,000 reward outstanding," she added.
Bidve's family in the Indian city of Pune have been growing increasingly angry about the handling of the case and accused the police of failing to contact them to inform them of their son's death. They only found out when his friends started to contact them through Facebook.
The delay in getting Bidve's body home has infuriated family members, who say the British authorities were more concerned about Christmas and the New Year festivities than in helping the family observe their traditions.
"It is unacceptable to us," Rakesh Sonawane, Bidve's brother-in-law, told the Observer.
"They say the investigation is still pending, the charge sheet has not been filed and a second postmortem is still pending. The holidays are taking their toll. If there were more people working, we would not have to wait so long.
Copley said that police were aware that the family are extremely distressed that Anuj's body has not been released to them and added that the force has been close contact with the coroner, who she said was anxious to release Bidve's body to his family at the earliest possible time.
A 19-year-old man who was arrested as part of the investigation was bailed at the weekend until the end of March. Three others, a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys, have also been released on bail pending further inquiries.