Police Shooting Suspects May Flee UK

London , UK , December 2, 2005 (The Guardian) – The detective leading the hunt for two men wanted in connection with the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky said today that it was "highly probable" they would try to flee the country.

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan warned anyone who helped smuggle the men out of the UK would face prosecution.

Officers are seeking Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah, 24, who is originally from Burnley but who is believed to have been living in London for the last four years, and Mustaf Jama, 25, who had been living in North Kensington , west London .

A third man, Mustaf Jama's 19-year-old brother Yusuf, who had been living with him, was charged with the murder of PC Beshenivsky on Tuesday after being arrested in Birmingham on Saturday.

PC Beshenivsky, 38, was shot dead in Bradford while responding to a robbery at a travel agents two weeks ago.

Of the fugitives, Det Supt Brennan, of West Yorkshire police, said today: "I think it's entirely likely that there is a small group of people who are assisting them."

He appealed for anyone with information to contact officers and reminded the public that there was a £90,000 reward for information that led to a prosecution.

Det Supt Brennan said the wanted men had "strong links" to the capital but also had contacts in Sheffield and Leicester and police were keeping an open mind about their whereabouts.

He said that police were liaising with ports, ferry terminals, airports, railway stations and with customs officers but it was possible someone would try and help smuggle the fugitives out of the country in a car, van or lorry.

He said wanted posters had been widely distributed. "Intensive inquiries have been ongoing to trace these men," the detective superintendent told a news conference.

Police released the names and photographs of the three suspects last Friday after two days of undercover surveillance work of known addresses.

PC Beshenivsky, a mother of three children and two stepchildren, was shot in the chest as she arrived outside the Universal Express travel agency in Bradford city centre.

The shooting occurred on her youngest daughter's fourth birthday. Her colleague, Teresa Milburn, was shot in the shoulder, an act police are treating as attempted murder.

The raiders were pistol-whipping clerks and demanding £100,000 when the patrol car arrived. Witnesses described them as "shooting like cowboys in the wild west" as they fled. The men escaped with only £2,000.

Last week detectives released CCTV footage from a large archive of sightings of a silver Toyota RAV-4 all-terrain car, registered number WP05YTT, which is thought to have been the getaway vehicle.

Five Somali men and a woman arrested in London after the shooting were later released. The men were bailed pending further inquiries and the woman was freed without charge.

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