Man held at Heathrow over murders of wife and children
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A man suspected of murdering his wife and three children was being questioned by police last night after returning to Britain following a 31-day trip to Thailand.
Rahan Arshad, 36, disappeared from his home in Cheshire at about the same time as the murders of his wife Uzma Rahan, 32, and her sons, Adam, 11 and Abbas, eight, and daughter, Henna, six.
The bodies were discovered by police on 20 August after neighbours complained about a smell coming from the family home in Cheadle Hulme, near Stockport. All the family died from head inquiries.
Mr Arshad returned to Britain yesterday after he was detained at the Padang Basar checkpoint in southern Thailand, on the border with Malaysia, while attempting to renew his visa to remain in the country.
He was arrested by officers from Greater Manchester Police on his arrival at Heathrow Airport.
Detective Superintendent Martin Bottomley, who is leading the murder hunt, said that Mr Arshad had flown back to the UK voluntarily after being stopped in Thailand.
Officers knew Mr Arshad had left the UK on a flight bound for Thailand about four weeks ago and had discovered his silver BMW 320 Diesel M sports car at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 3 car park.
Det Supt Bottomley said: "Since Monday 21 August we have been liaising with law enforcement authorities in Thailand following the discovery of a silver BMW car at Heathrow Airport. At 7pm last night Mr Arshad voluntarily boarded a Thai Airlines flight to return to the UK to assist us with our inquiries."
Earlier this month, murder squad detectives arrested a 40-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman in connection with the killings. They were later released on police bail. Mrs Rahan was from Pakistan but her husband is British-born.