No race angle in Bidve killing: Police

London: There was no evidence that Indian student Anuj Bidve was shot dead by a Briton because of his race, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has said after one of the most meticulous and fast-paced investigations in recent times. The GMP has been lauded for its investigation into the unprovoked and motiveless killing of Bidve by Kiaran ‘Psycho’ Stapleton, who was on Thursday held guilty of murder by a jury after a five-week trial at the Manchester Crown Court. [caption id=“attachment_393640” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Anuj Bidve’s funeral procession. PTI[/caption] Stapleton is due to be sentenced later on Friday. Detective Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle, who led the GMP investigation, said: “Our investigation found no evidence that Anuj was targeted because of his race. “We have no evidence that racist comments were made and there appears to be no motivation for Stapleton other than tragically Anuj and his friends were in the wrong place at the wrong time”. Doyle added that “I have personally not investigated a case like this ever before…There was absolutely nothing remarkable about Stapleton’s history and nothing that would ever have suggested he could commit such a cold-blooded, random killing”. Discounting the race angle, Doyle said the investigators were able to prove that Stapleton got a tattoo very soon after he killed Bidve, “which we believe may have been some sort of boast or badge of honour. If that is true, such a cold and brazen act tells its own story about what sort of man he is”. Assistant Chief Constable Dawn Copley said: “Subhash and Yogini Bidve worked incredibly hard to send their son Anuj to England so he could get a good education and have the best possible start in life. “However, their dreams were shattered because of the brutal and callous actions of Kiaran Stapleton”. PTI