LONDON: A 24-year-old man has been charged with the murder of an Indian restaurant manager who was killed after being hit by a vehicle when he was cycling home from work on Valentine’s Day.
Seven other men who were arrested in connection with the murder of 36-year-old Vignesh Pattabhiraman, who was from Coimbatore, have been released on bail, police said late on Wednesday.
On Tuesday evening, Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Unit charged Shazeb Khalid with one count of murder.
Pattabhiraman was declared dead at Royal Berkshire Hospital after being hit by the vehicle at 11.50pm on Feb 14 on nearby Addington Road in a residential area of Reading. After leaving him for dead, the vehicle sped off.
Following his death, Thames Valley Police launched a murder investigation.
Khalid was arrested on suspicion of murder on Monday and charged on Tuesday night. Seven men, aged between 20 and 48, all from Reading, were also arrested on Monday on suspicion of assisting an offender and have been released on bail. Khalid is due to appear at Reading Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
A police spokesman said: “It is believed that the cyclist was also assaulted by an occupant of the vehicle, which then left the scene.”
India-born Pattabhiraman had moved to Britain a year ago from Doha where he had been working in a Hyatt hotel, to take up the job of restaurant manager at Vel, a South Indian eatery in Reading, which is popular with the Indian community. He lived in Reading with his wife, Ramya, also an Indian national.
The day he was killed was his last day at work as he had recently landed a dream job to run a restaurant at the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill in Marylebone, London.
“His wife is naturally devastated. They are a young couple who had moved to the UK for a better life and she has lost her husband in the first year. His parents in Coimbatore want to come to the UK straight away and we request the UK govt to issue them an emergency visa as soon as possible,” a family friend told TOI.
Seven other men who were arrested in connection with the murder of 36-year-old Vignesh Pattabhiraman, who was from Coimbatore, have been released on bail, police said late on Wednesday.
On Tuesday evening, Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Unit charged Shazeb Khalid with one count of murder.
Pattabhiraman was declared dead at Royal Berkshire Hospital after being hit by the vehicle at 11.50pm on Feb 14 on nearby Addington Road in a residential area of Reading. After leaving him for dead, the vehicle sped off.
Following his death, Thames Valley Police launched a murder investigation.
Khalid was arrested on suspicion of murder on Monday and charged on Tuesday night. Seven men, aged between 20 and 48, all from Reading, were also arrested on Monday on suspicion of assisting an offender and have been released on bail. Khalid is due to appear at Reading Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
A police spokesman said: “It is believed that the cyclist was also assaulted by an occupant of the vehicle, which then left the scene.”
India-born Pattabhiraman had moved to Britain a year ago from Doha where he had been working in a Hyatt hotel, to take up the job of restaurant manager at Vel, a South Indian eatery in Reading, which is popular with the Indian community. He lived in Reading with his wife, Ramya, also an Indian national.
The day he was killed was his last day at work as he had recently landed a dream job to run a restaurant at the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill in Marylebone, London.
“His wife is naturally devastated. They are a young couple who had moved to the UK for a better life and she has lost her husband in the first year. His parents in Coimbatore want to come to the UK straight away and we request the UK govt to issue them an emergency visa as soon as possible,” a family friend told TOI.