Appeal for witnesses to Longsight shooting

By Aimee Horwich

GREATER Manchester Police are continuing their appeal for witnesses to come forward in connection with the fatal shooting of a 30-year-old student in Longsight.

Khurram Ashraf, 30, was shot in the stomach as he left work at Global Forex money exchange on Stamford Road, Longsight, last Thursday.

Ashraf, originally from Pakistan, and a colleague were confronted by an armed man, shortly after 6pm.

Witnesses said the gunman appeared from Longsight Business Park before demanding, “give me the bag or I’ll kill you.”

When Ashraf resisted he fired two shots into his stomach before making off with a laptop and £10,000 in cash.

The part-time cashier and post-graduate business student was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary where he later died.

Since the shooting, Mohammed Ali Mahmood, 29, Junaid Anjum, 25, of Longsight and Sufyan Butt, 26, of Levenshulme, have been charged with the murder.

Councillor Luthfur Rahman, of the Longsight Ward, is working alongside GMP to ensure that there is an extra police presence in the area.

Cllr Rahman said: “Of course it’s a shocking incident. Most of the community are very shocked that somebody going about their daily business was shot.

“Although we must stress that it was an isolated incident. Longsight is quite a peaceful area, so there’s no need to panic.”

The three charged have been remanded in custody until 16 December.

Detective Superintendent Julian Ross, leading the investigation, said: "Although we have made arrests and charged three people, our inquiries are still ongoing and we are continuing to ask that anyone with information comes forward so we can find out exactly what happened on the night Khurram was killed.“