Pregnant widow appeals for help to find robber who shot husband

The pregnant widow of a man shot in the street while chasing robbers pleaded yesterday for help in finding those responsible for the murder.

"He just did what any decent human being would have done. He was the most wonderful person in the world," Naila Hussain, 34, said of her husband, Tasawar, who was shot as he tried to note a registration plate of car he had followed from a travel agency.

Supported at a press conference by her two sisters, Iram Altaf, 28, and Naida Ali, 36, Mrs Hussain sobbed as she said: "He was one of those people who would have helped anybody. That was the way he was. I cannot live with the fact of what they did, please help us find these people, please."

Police need information on awhite man who shot Mr Hussain, 36, in the chest with a handgun at close range in the Manningham area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, on Monday evening.

Mr Hussain, father of the couple's five-year-old daughter, Haarisah, was born in Pakistan, came to England as a boy, and had been married for six years. He and his friend Azram Hussain saw a security guard being attacked as he collected takings from the travel agency in Lumb Lane. When the robbers left in a white Nissan Sunny, Mr Hussain and his friend followed in a silver BMW. After the murder, the getaway car was found abandoned near a cash box that had been taken in the raid.

Detective Superintendent Allan Doherty, who is leading a team of 40 officers on the case, appealed to the criminal fraternity in Bradford and West Yorkshire to come forward with information. He said he believed the robbery had been a professionally planned job by people who might have committed similar offences.

A woman who has details of events before the shooting, which are vital to the inquiry, is being flown back from Pakistan to give information to the police. Officers are trying to trace the driver of a white Transit van parked near the Nissan at the time of the robbery. They are also studying CCTV footage and planning to search homes. are planned.