Family plea as murder hunt launched

Jan 4 2007 By Gurdip Thandi, Birmingham Mail

THE devastated family of a man who died after giving chase to robbers today made a heartfelt plea for information about his death.

Sabat Ali, aged 67, died at around 6.30pm on Tuesday in Hart Street, Caldmore, Walsall, following a robbery in which he was assaulted.

His son Bashid Khan said the family believe he collapsed and died of a heart attack after giving chase to the offenders who are understood to have stolen jewellery from him.

He said his father, also know as Sultan Mohammed, was with his daughter Shazir Begum, who is in her 30s, and had been buying Asian jewellery.

Members of Mr Khan's family were due to attend a press conference at Walsall Police Station today. Mr Khan, aged 37, who lives in London, said: "My dad was a hard-working man. He was a foreman in an engineering firm until he retired and a well-loved father of six sons and a daughter.

"I can't believe what has happened to him. The whole family is in utter shock over his death and the way it has happened. We are convinced he and my sister were followed by these men in a car before they struck.

"There are lots of CCTV cameras in the area and we hope that some of them would have captured what happened.

"We lost our mum last year to cancer so it's a huge blow to have lost our father just a year later."

Police are still awaiting the results of a post mortem and the death is being treated as suspicious.

at this stage.

They are appealing for information and witnesses and said that three black men were believed to have attacked the man.

Anyone with information to help the police inquiry should call Walsall CID on 0845 1135000.

f=XZapfDingbatsno PLEA... Bashid Khan, son of Sabat Ali who died on Tuesday.