Killing of British tourist: brother speaks out

MONDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2012

The brother of a British man murdered in Sri Lanka on Christmas Day 2011 has said it is “disheartening” that the suspects have not been brought to trial.

Khuram Shaikh, 32, from Milnrow near Rochdale, was on holiday from his work as a Red Cross worker in Gaza when he was murdered in the resort of Tangalle.

Eight people, including a Sri Lankan politician, were arrested but bailed.

His brother, Nasser, told BBC Breakfast the lack of action “gives out the wrong message.”

Nasser Shaikh said of his brother: “He was a great guy with an infectious smile, his heart was in the right place and he always thought of others before himself.”

Khuram Shaikh, who graduated from Salford University, was shot and stabbed when he and his Russian girlfriend, Victoria Aleksandrovna Tkacheva, were attacked.

The case has been taken up by Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk.

Matt Baker, a parliamentary aide to Mr Danczuk, said: “There is some concern that political interference is playing a part, particularly as one of the suspects is a prominent politician with ties to the president.

“One year on from the murder all the suspects have been released on bail, no charges have been brought, the politician has been reinstated back into the ruling party and there is no trial on the horizon,” he added.

Mr Baker urged the British government to press the Sri Lankan authorities to get the case moving.

Tangalle is 100 miles (161km) south of Colombo and among those arrested was the chairman of the local council, Sampath Chandrapushpa Vidanapathirana, 24.

The Sri Lankan government told BBC Breakfast the authorities were doing everything they could to solve the case.

Sri Lanka is hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) next year; last month David Cameron was urged by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee to boycott the summit to protest at “serious abuses” of human rights in Sri Lanka. (BBC)