Indian shope keeper attacked in North London

A shopkeeper of Indian origin died on Sunday morning after being injured in a robbery at his shop in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the police said on Sunday afternoon.

Sixty-three-year-old Mr Gurmail Singh had sustained head injuries during the robbery by four teenagers, wearing dark hooded tops and tracksuit bottoms, at around 8.30 pm on Saturday night.

The robbery at Cowcliffe Convenience Store in the Cowcliffe area of Huddersfield was witnessed by a group of six people, who heard a commotion at the shop and went to help. However, they were unable to prevent the gang of robbers from leaving.

“The witnesses tried to block the door to stop the offenders leaving but after a struggle they made their escape,” the West Yorkshire police said, adding that none of the witnesses were injured during the incident.

Mr Singh was admitted to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary with head injuries and he died at 3.30 am on Sunday morning. A post-mortem will be held on Monday to confirm the cause of the death, the police said. Mr Singh was a family man with two adult sons.

The West Yorkshire police, which has started a murder investigation, did not comment at this stage whether the attack on Mr Singh had any racial overtones. “A small amount of cash, cigarettes and confectionery were stolen” from the store, the police said.

Huddersfield a small town in West Yorkshire, north England, and has a sizeable British Asian population, mostly from Pakistan and India. The British Asians are about 12.5 per cent of the population. The Sikh community in the area numbers less than 3,000 in the town of 150,000 residents.

“Mr Singh was a well-known and popular local businessman who had been in this area many years. I appeal for anyone with information to contact us as a matter of urgency,” senior investigation officer in the case, detective superintendent, Mr David Pervin, said and appealed for information about the attack.

- Wales, Lodon.