Racist murder probe: Police suspect car crash dad may actually have been ... - Mirror.co.uk

A married father who was originally believed to have died in a car crash may actually have been stabbed to death in a racist attack.

Mohammed Saleem Khan, 37, died after he was found seriously injured behind the wheel of a rented Ford Transit van in the North Yorkshire village of Easingwold.

Police initially suspected he had been involved in a road accident, but a post mortem revealed Mr Khan had been knifed in the neck.

A murder hunt has been launched, and detectives fear Mr Khan may have been the victim of an unprovoked, racially-motivated attack.

Detective Chief Inspector Heather Pearson, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "Specially trained officers are now following up a number of lines of enquiry.

"One line is that this could have been an unprovoked, racially motivated attack.

""No weapon has been recovered as yet and I would urge members of the public to report anything they find in the area to us.

"We are also looking to establish Mr Khan's movements prior to the attack."

A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder in the early hours of this morning, and a 20-year-old woman and two men aged 21 and 25 were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Mr Khan, who was orginally from Luton but had recently been living in Birmingham, was delivering shower products in North Yorkshire when he was attacked.

His van was spotted crashed into bollards at 2.30am yesterday by an off-duty police officer. Mr Khan was found inside without a set belt on, leading police to conclude he had crashed.

Now they think he was trying to flee for his life.

He was taken to York District Hospital but died later.

A floral tribute, reading "R.I.P. Thinking of you and your family", was left at the scene of the crash.

DCI Pearson added: "I would like to speak to anyone who has any information that can help the investigation to come forward as soon as possible.

"If you saw or heard anything suspicious in the early hours of Sunday morning, you may have information which is vital to our inquiries.

"I can assure people who may be hesitant about coming forward that any information received will be treated in the strictest of confidence."