This press release today from the Upper Austria State Police Department reads like a real crime story – and after a brutal murder case in Great Britain, it took the investigators to the tranquil town of Hohenzell in Upper Austria. There the handcuffs clicked for two suspected murderers after a hunt across Europe.
Two Indian nationals are strongly suspected of having murdered another Indian citizen in Shrewsbury along with seven other Indians on August 21, 2023. On the morning of the crime, they are said to have pursued the murder victim in two vehicles. However, when the victim noticed his pursuers and tried to escape from them on foot, the two suspects, now arrested in Austria, ran after him and wrestled him to the ground. Together with the other six murder suspects, they beat and stabbed him with weapons they had brought with them – such as axes, golf clubs, spades and knives. The victim died a few minutes after the attack due to numerous stab and cut wounds as well as a massive skull fracture with brain leakage.
“Operation Columbia”
The Major Investigations Unit of the West Mercia Police Department set up “Operation Columbia” to investigate the criminal case and was able to track down and arrest five suspects in the United Kingdom during the extensive murder investigation. These perpetrators have already been sentenced to 28 years imprisonment for murder and one perpetrator to ten years imprisonment for manslaughter.
The other four suspects managed to escape, although based on the findings of the investigation it was suspected that one suspect had a possible connection to Upper Austria – which is why contact was made with the target search group of the Upper Austria State Criminal Police Office via Interpol Vienna. In extensive investigations, the investigators from the Upper Austrian State Criminal Police Office were able to identify and investigate the suspect with a possible connection to Upper Austria, as well as another suspect who was accompanying him. Both tried to gain asylum in Austria by using alias data. In close consultation with the local public prosecutor’s office in Ried/Innkreis, a search was opened, international arrest warrants were requested, and close contact was maintained with the investigative authorities in West Mercia for the purpose of exchanging information.
High media attention
Due to the complex nature of the matter, four investigators from “Operation Columbia” were sent to Upper Austria in the presence of the British police liaison officer to intensify the exchange of criminal police information. After extensive search measures, the two murder suspects were arrested on May 20, 2024 by officers from the LKA OÖ Target Search and the EGS (Street Crime Task Force) of the Upper Austria State Criminal Police Office in Hohenzell and taken to the Ried/Innkreis prison for the purpose of imposing extradition custody.
Due to the professional and rapid attack, resistance was impossible and any further escape was unthinkable. The investigation into this murder case through and with “Operation Columbia” attracted considerable media attention in Great Britain and is being processed by the BBC as part of “true crime stories”.
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Source: Nachrichten
